Electronic device for providing execution screen of application and method for operating the same

ABSTRACT

An electronic device is provided. The electronic device includes a first housing, a second housing foldably connected with the first housing, a flexible display disposed on the first housing and the second housing, at least one sensor, a memory, and at least one processor operatively connected to the flexible display, the at least one sensor, and the memory, wherein the at least one processor is configured, when instructions stored in the memory are executed, to control the flexible display to display a first execution screen of a first application, based on an angle between the first housing and the second housing, which is identified using the at least one sensor, falling within a predetermined range, identify whether the first application supports changing of an execution screen according to a change in angle, and based on the first application supporting the changing of the execution screen according to the change in the angle, control the flexible display to display a second execution screen of the first application associated with the predetermined range instead of the first execution screen.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION(S)

This application is based on and claims priority under 35 U.S.C. §119(a) of a Korean patent application number 10-2020-0015942, filed onFeb. 10, 2020, in the Korean Intellectual Property Office, thedisclosure of which is incorporated by reference herein in its entirety.

BACKGROUND 1. Field

The disclosure relates to an electronic device for providing anexecution screen of an application and a method of operating the same.

2. Description of Related Art

For many people in modern times, portable digital communication deviceshave become essential items. Consumers want to be provided with avariety of high-quality services they want anytime and anywhere usingportable digital communication devices.

In order to provide various high-quality services, a portable digitalcommunication device stores various applications. A portable digitalcommunication device executes an application so as to provide a specificservice and to display graphic elements that are capable of interactingwith a user, wherein the graphic elements are displayed on an executionscreen of the executed application.

Portable digital communication devices may be placed in various states(e.g., rotating) according to the control of consumers (e.g., gripping)while displaying an execution screen of an application. Accordingly,there is a need to implement a technique for producing and displaying anexecution screen of an application having a layout suitable for each ofvarious states of portable digital communication devices and anarrangement state of graphic elements.

The above information is presented as background information only toassist with an understanding of the disclosure. No determination hasbeen made, and no assertion is made, as to whether any of the abovemight be applicable as prior art with regard to the disclosure.

SUMMARY

Aspects of the disclosure are to address at least the above-mentionedproblems and/or disadvantages and to provide at least the advantagesdescribed below. Accordingly, an aspect of the disclosure is to providean electronic device that may execute an application, and may control aflexible display to display an execution screen including at least onegraphic element. However, when the states of housings provided in theelectronic device (e.g., the angles of the housings) are changed, theflexible display disposed on the housings may be bent, and theelectronic device may display the execution screen of the application onthe bent flexible display. When the user selects a specific element(e.g., an icon) included in the displayed execution screen of theapplication in the state in which the flexible display is bent, theremay be a problem in that the convenience with which the user uses theelement may be deteriorated due to the bent flexible display. Moreover,even if the currently displayed execution screen of an application ischanged to another more convenient execution screen of an application,when an application switches from one execution screen to anotherexecution screen, it is necessary every time to perform an operation ofswitching from the other execution screen of the application, which wasjust switched to, back to an appropriate and more convenient executionscreen, which may increase the operational burden of the electronicdevice.

With an electronic device according to various embodiments and a methodof operating the same, it is possible to address the issue that theconvenience with which the user uses an application is deteriorated byallowing an execution screen to be changed to an execution screen onwhich the application can be more conveniently used in the state inwhich a flexible display is bent. With an electronic device according tovarious embodiments and a method of operating the same, it is possibleto address the issue that operational burden increases on the electronicdevice for switching an execution screen by performing control suchthat, when currently running applications display execution screens, anexecution screen corresponding to the current bent state of the flexibledisplay is displayed.

Additional aspects will be set forth in part in the description whichfollows and, in part, will be apparent from the description, or may belearned by practice of the presented embodiments.

In accordance with an aspect of the disclosure, an electronic device isprovided. The electronic device includes a first housing, a secondhousing foldably connected with the first housing, a flexible displaydisposed on the first housing and the second housing, at least onesensor, a memory, and at least one processor operatively connected tothe flexible display, the at least one sensor, and the memory, whereinthe at least one processor is configured, when instructions stored inthe memory are executed, to control the flexible display to display afirst execution screen of a first application, based on an angle betweenthe first housing and the second housing, which is identified using theat least one sensor, falling within a predetermined range, identifywhether the first application supports changing of an execution screenaccording to a change in angle, and based on the first applicationsupporting the changing of the execution screen according to the changein the angle, control the flexible display to display a second executionscreen of the first application associated with the predetermined rangeinstead of the first execution screen.

In accordance with another aspect of the disclosure, a method ofoperating an electronic device is provided. The method includes a firsthousing, a second housing, and a flexible display disposed on the firsthousing and the second housing, the method including displaying a firstexecution screen of a first application on the flexible display, basedon an angle between the first housing and the second housing, which isidentified using at least one sensor, falling within a predeterminedrange, identifying whether the first application supports changing of anexecution screen according to a change in the angle, and based on thefirst application supporting the changing of the execution screenaccording to the change in the angle, displaying a second executionscreen of the first application associated with the predetermined rangeinstead of the first execution screen on the flexible display.

In accordance with another aspect of the disclosure, an electronicdevice is provided. The electronic device includes a first housing, asecond housing foldably connected with the first housing, a flexibledisplay disposed on the first housing and the second housing, at leastone sensor, a memory, and at least one processor operatively connectedto the flexible display, the at least one sensor, and the memory,wherein the at least one processor is configured, when instructionsstored in the memory are executed, to control the flexible display todisplay a first execution screen of a first application, based on anangle between the first housing and the second housing, which isidentified using the at least one sensor, falling within a predeterminedrange, identify a plurality of graphic elements included in the firstapplication, and control the flexible display to display, among theplurality of graphic elements, a first graphic element having a firstattribute in a first area and a second graphic element having a secondattribute in a second area, wherein the first area corresponds to thefirst housing, and the second area corresponds to the second housing.

Solutions according to various embodiments are not limited to theabove-described solutions, and a person ordinarily skilled in the art towhich the disclosure belongs will be able to clearly understandsolutions, which are not disclosed herein, from this specification andthe accompanying drawings.

According to various embodiments of the disclosure, an electronic deviceand a method of operating the same are capable of improving theconvenience with which the user uses an application by allowing theapplication to change an execution screen to another execution screenthat can be more conveniently used in the state in which the flexibledisplay is bent. According to various embodiments of the disclosure, anelectronic device and a method of operating the same are capable ofreducing the operational burden on the electronic device for switchingapplication screens by controlling currently running applications todisplay execution screens corresponding to the current bent state of theflexible display when the currently running applications display theexecution screens.

Other aspects, advantages, and salient features of the disclosure willbecome apparent to those skilled in the art from the following detaileddescription, which, taken in conjunction with the annexed drawings,discloses various embodiments of the disclosure.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The above and other aspects, features, and advantages of certainembodiments of the disclosure will be more apparent from the followingdescription taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, inwhich:

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of an electronic device in a networkenvironment according to an embodiment of the disclosure;

FIG. 2A is a view illustrating an electronic device including at leasttwo housing structures and a flexible display according to an embodimentof the disclosure;

FIG. 2B is a view illustrating an electronic device including at leasttwo housing structures and a flexible display according to an embodimentof the disclosure;

FIG. 2C is a view illustrating an electronic device including at leasttwo housing structures and a flexible display according to an embodimentof the disclosure;

FIG. 2D is a view illustrating an electronic device including at leasttwo housing structures and a flexible display according to an embodimentof the disclosure;

FIG. 2E is a view illustrating an electronic device including at leasttwo housing structures and a flexible display according to an embodimentof the disclosure;

FIG. 2F is a view illustrating an electronic device including at leasttwo housing structures and a flexible display according to an embodimentof the disclosure;

FIG. 2G is a view illustrating an electronic device including at leasttwo housing structures and a flexible display according to an embodimentof the disclosure;

FIG. 2H is a view illustrating an electronic device including at leasttwo housing structures and a flexible display according to an embodimentof the disclosure;

FIG. 2I is a view illustrating an electronic device including at leasttwo housing structures and a flexible display according to an embodimentof the disclosure;

FIG. 2J is a view illustrating an electronic device including at leasttwo housing structures and a flexible display according to an embodimentof the disclosure;

FIG. 2K is a view illustrating an electronic device including at leasttwo housing structures and a flexible display according to an embodimentof the disclosure;

FIG. 3A is a view illustrating an electronic device in an unfolded stateaccording to an embodiment of the disclosure;

FIG. 3B is a view illustrating an electronic device in a folded stateaccording to an embodiment of the disclosure;

FIG. 3C is an exploded perspective view illustrating an electronicdevice according to an embodiment of the disclosure;

FIG. 4A is a view illustrating an electronic device in an unfolded statewith reference to a specific folding direction according to anembodiment of the disclosure;

FIG. 4B is a view illustrating an electronic device in a folded statewith reference to a second folding direction according to an embodimentof the disclosure;

FIG. 5 is an exploded perspective view illustrating an electronic deviceaccording to an embodiment of the disclosure;

FIG. 6A is a block diagram of an electronic device according to anembodiment of the disclosure;

FIG. 6B is a view illustrating a situation in which a program includedin an electronic device identifies a state change of an electronicdevice and outputs a result of identification to a display according toan embodiment of the disclosure;

FIG. 7 is a view illustrating an execution screen and/or a userinterface/user experience (UI/UX) of an application according to anembodiment of the disclosure;

FIG. 8 is a flowchart illustrating operations of an electronic deviceaccording to an embodiment of the disclosure;

FIG. 9 is a view illustrating operations of an electronic deviceaccording to an embodiment of the disclosure;

FIG. 10 is a view illustrating modes of an electronic device associatedwith angles between housings (e.g., a first housing and a secondhousing) of an electronic device according to an embodiment of thedisclosure;

FIG. 11 is a flowchart illustrating operations of an electronic deviceaccording to an embodiment of the disclosure;

FIG. 12 is a view illustrating operations of an electronic deviceaccording to an embodiment of the disclosure;

FIG. 13 is a view illustrating operations performed when an applicationthat has been running in a background mode of an electronic device isexecuted in a foreground mode of an electronic device according to anembodiment of the disclosure;

FIG. 14 is a flowchart illustrating operations of an electronic device,an external device, and a developer server according to an embodiment ofthe disclosure;

FIG. 15 is a flowchart illustrating operations of an electronic device,an external device, and a developer server according to an embodiment ofthe disclosure;

FIG. 16 is a view illustrating an execution screen and/or a UI/UXincluded in an application for each state according to an embodiment ofthe disclosure;

FIG. 17 is a flowchart illustrating operations of an electronic deviceaccording to an embodiment of the disclosure;

FIG. 18 is a view illustrating operations of detecting rotation of ahousing of an electronic device according to an embodiment of thedisclosure;

FIG. 19 is a block diagram illustrating operations of an electronicdevice according to an embodiment of the disclosure;

FIG. 20 is a view illustrating operations of a layout management modulefor describing operations of an electronic device according to anembodiment of the disclosure;

FIG. 21 is a flowchart illustrating operations of reconfiguring elementsincluded in an execution screen of an application of an electronicdevice according to an embodiment of the disclosure;

FIG. 22 is a view illustrating operations of reconfiguring elementsincluded in an execution screen of an application of an electronicdevice according to an embodiment of the disclosure;

FIG. 23 is a view illustrating operations of reconfiguring elementsincluded in an execution screen of an application of an electronicdevice according to an embodiment of the disclosure;

FIG. 24 is a view illustrating operations of reconfiguring elementsincluded in an execution screen according to an embodiment of thedisclosure;

FIG. 25 is a view illustrating reconfigured elements according to anembodiment of the disclosure;

FIG. 26 is a flowchart illustrating operations of an electronic deviceaccording to an embodiment of the disclosure;

FIG. 27 is a view illustrating operations of an electronic deviceaccording to an embodiment of the disclosure;

FIG. 28 is a flowchart illustrating operations of an electronic deviceaccording to an embodiment of the disclosure;

FIG. 29 is a view illustrating operations of an electronic deviceaccording to an embodiment of the disclosure;

FIG. 30 is a flowchart illustrating operations of an electronic deviceaccording to an embodiment of the disclosure;

FIG. 31 is a view illustrating operations according to a change of state(e.g., a change of state of housings) of an electronic device when datais received by an electronic device according to an embodiment of thedisclosure;

FIG. 32 is a view illustrating operations according to a change of state(e.g., a change of state of housings) of an electronic device when datais received by an electronic device according to an embodiment of thedisclosure;

FIG. 33 is a flowchart illustrating operations of an electronic deviceaccording to an embodiment of the disclosure;

FIG. 34 is a view illustrating an operation of changing an executionscreen when a plurality of execution screens are displayed in anelectronic device according to an embodiment of the disclosure;

FIG. 35 is a flowchart illustrating operations of an electronic deviceaccording to an embodiment of the disclosure;

FIG. 36 is a view illustrating operations of an electronic deviceincluding at least two housings according to an embodiment of thedisclosure; and

FIG. 37 is a view illustrating operations of an electronic deviceincluding at least two housings according to an embodiment of thedisclosure.

Throughout the drawings, like reference numerals will be understood torefer to like parts, components, and structures.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

The following description with reference to the accompanying drawings isprovided to assist in a comprehensive understanding of variousembodiments of the disclosure as defined by the claims and theirequivalents. It includes various specific details to assist in thatunderstanding but these are to be regarded as merely exemplary.Accordingly, those of ordinary skill in the art will recognize thatvarious changes and modifications of the various embodiments describedherein can be made without departing from the scope and spirit of thedisclosure. In addition, descriptions of well-known functions andconstructions may be omitted for clarity and conciseness.

The terms and words used in the following description and claims are notlimited to the bibliographical meanings, but, are merely used by theinventor to enable a clear and consistent understanding of thedisclosure. Accordingly, it should be apparent to those skilled in theart that the following description of various embodiments of thedisclosure is provided for illustration purpose only and not for thepurpose of limiting the disclosure as defined by the appended claims andtheir equivalents.

It is to be understood that the singular forms “a,” “an,” and “the”include plural referents unless the context clearly dictates otherwise.Thus, for example, reference to “a component surface” includes referenceto one or more of such surfaces.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram illustrating an electronic device 101 in anetwork environment 100 according to an embodiment of the disclosure.

Referring to FIG. 1 , the electronic device 101 in the networkenvironment 100 may communicate with an electronic device 102 via afirst network 198 (e.g., a short-range wireless communication network),or an electronic device 104 or a server 108 via a second network 199(e.g., a long-range wireless communication network). According to anembodiment of the disclosure, the electronic device 101 may communicatewith the electronic device 104 via the server 108. According to anembodiment of the disclosure, the electronic device 101 may include aprocessor 120, memory 130, an input device 150, a sound output device155, a display device 160, an audio module 170, a sensor module 176, aninterface 177, a haptic module 179, a camera module 180, a powermanagement module 188, a battery 189, a communication module 190, asubscriber identification module (SIM) 196, or an antenna module 197. Insome embodiments of the disclosure, at least one (e.g., the displaydevice 160 or the camera module 180) of the components may be omittedfrom the electronic device 101, or one or more other components may beadded in the electronic device 101. In some embodiments of thedisclosure, some of the components may be implemented as singleintegrated circuitry. For example, the sensor module 176 (e.g., afingerprint sensor, an iris sensor, or an illuminance sensor) may beimplemented as embedded in the display device 160 (e.g., a display).

The processor 120 may execute, for example, software (e.g., a program140) to control at least one other component (e.g., a hardware orsoftware component) of the electronic device 101 coupled with theprocessor 120, and may perform various data processing or computation.According to one embodiment of the disclosure, as at least part of thedata processing or computation, the processor 120 may load a command ordata received from another component (e.g., the sensor module 176 or thecommunication module 190) in volatile memory 132, process the command orthe data stored in the volatile memory 132, and store resulting data innon-volatile memory 134. According to an embodiment of the disclosure,the processor 120 may include a main processor 121 (e.g., a centralprocessing unit (CPU) or an application processor (AP)), and anauxiliary processor 123 (e.g., a graphics processing unit (GPU), animage signal processor (ISP), a sensor hub processor, or a communicationprocessor (CP)) that is operable independently from, or in conjunctionwith, the main processor 121. Additionally or alternatively, theauxiliary processor 123 may be adapted to consume less power than themain processor 121, or to be specific to a specified function. Theauxiliary processor 123 may be implemented as separate from, or as partof the main processor 121.

The auxiliary processor 123 may control, for example, at least some offunctions or states related to at least one component (e.g., the displaydevice 160, the sensor module 176, or the communication module 190)among the components of the electronic device 101, instead of the mainprocessor 121 while the main processor 121 is in an inactive (e.g.,sleep) state, or together with the main processor 121 while the mainprocessor 121 is in an active (e.g., executing an application) state.According to an embodiment of the disclosure, the auxiliary processor123 (e.g., an image signal processor or a communication processor) maybe implemented as part of another component (e.g., the camera module 180or the communication module 190) functionally related to the auxiliaryprocessor 123.

The memory 130 may store various data used by at least one component(e.g., the processor 120 or the sensor module 176) of the electronicdevice 101. The various data may include, for example, software (e.g.,the program 140) and input data or output data for a command relatedthereto. The memory 130 may include the volatile memory 132 or thenon-volatile memory 134.

The program 140 may be stored in the memory 130 as software, and mayinclude, for example, an operating system (OS) 142, middleware 144, oran application 146.

The input device 150 may receive a command or data to be used by acomponent (e.g., the processor 120) of the electronic device 101, fromthe outside (e.g., a user) of the electronic device 101. The inputdevice 150 may include, for example, a microphone, a mouse, a keyboard,or a digital pen (e.g., a stylus pen).

The sound output device 155 may output sound signals to the outside ofthe electronic device 101. The sound output device 155 may include, forexample, a speaker or a receiver. The speaker may be used for generalpurposes, such as playing multimedia or playing record, and the receivermay be used for incoming calls. According to an embodiment of thedisclosure, the receiver may be implemented as separate from, or as partof the speaker.

The display device 160 may visually provide information to the outside(e.g., a user) of the electronic device 101. The display device 160 mayinclude, for example, a display, a hologram device, or a projector andcontrol circuitry to control a corresponding one of the display,hologram device, and projector. According to an embodiment of thedisclosure, the display device 160 may include touch circuitry adaptedto detect a touch, or sensor circuitry (e.g., a pressure sensor) adaptedto measure the intensity of force incurred by the touch.

The audio module 170 may convert a sound into an electrical signal andvice versa. According to an embodiment of the disclosure, the audiomodule 170 may obtain the sound via the input device 150, or output thesound via the sound output device 155 or an external electronic device(e.g., an electronic device 102 (e.g., a speaker or a headphone))directly or wirelessly coupled with the electronic device 101.

The sensor module 176 may detect an operational state (e.g., power ortemperature) of the electronic device 101 or an environmental state(e.g., a state of a user) external to the electronic device 101, andthen generate an electrical signal or data value corresponding to thedetected state. According to an embodiment of the disclosure, the sensormodule 176 may include, for example, a gesture sensor, a gyro sensor, anatmospheric pressure sensor, a magnetic sensor, an acceleration sensor,a grip sensor, a proximity sensor, a color sensor, an infrared (IR)sensor, a biometric sensor, a temperature sensor, a humidity sensor, oran illuminance sensor.

The interface 177 may support one or more specified protocols to be usedfor the electronic device 101 to be coupled with the external electronicdevice (e.g., the electronic device 102) directly or wirelessly.According to an embodiment of the disclosure, the interface 177 mayinclude, for example, a high definition multimedia interface (HDMI), auniversal serial bus (USB) interface, a secure digital (SD) cardinterface, or an audio interface.

A connecting terminal 178 may include a connector via which theelectronic device 101 may be physically connected with the externalelectronic device (e.g., the electronic device 102). According to anembodiment of the disclosure, the connecting terminal 178 may include,for example, a HDMI connector, a USB connector, a SD card connector, oran audio connector (e.g., a headphone connector).

The haptic module 179 may convert an electrical signal into a mechanicalstimulus (e.g., a vibration or a movement) or electrical stimulus whichmay be recognized by a user via his tactile sensation or kinestheticsensation. According to an embodiment of the disclosure, the hapticmodule 179 may include, for example, a motor, a piezoelectric element,or an electric stimulator.

The camera module 180 may capture a still image and moving images.According to an embodiment of the disclosure, the camera module 180 mayinclude one or more lenses, image sensors, image signal processors, orflashes.

The power management module 188 may manage power supplied to theelectronic device 101. According to one embodiment of the disclosure,the power management module 188 may be implemented as at least part of,for example, a power management integrated circuit (PMIC).

The battery 189 may supply power to at least one component of theelectronic device 101. According to an embodiment of the disclosure, thebattery 189 may include, for example, a primary cell which is notrechargeable, a secondary cell which is rechargeable, or a fuel cell.

The communication module 190 may support establishing a direct (e.g.,wired) communication channel or a wireless communication channel betweenthe electronic device 101 and the external electronic device (e.g., theelectronic device 102, the electronic device 104, or the server 108) andperforming communication via the established communication channel. Thecommunication module 190 may include one or more communicationprocessors that are operable independently from the processor 120 (e.g.,the application processor (AP)) and support a direct (e.g., wired)communication or a wireless communication. According to an embodiment ofthe disclosure, the communication module 190 may include a wirelesscommunication module 192 (e.g., a cellular communication module, ashort-range wireless communication module, or a global navigationsatellite system (GNSS) communication module) or a wired communicationmodule 194 (e.g., a local area network (LAN) communication module or apower line communication (PLC) module). A corresponding one of thesecommunication modules may communicate with the external electronicdevice via the first network 198 (e.g., a short-range communicationnetwork, such as Bluetooth™, wireless-fidelity (Wi-Fi) direct, orinfrared data association (IrDA)) or the second network 199 (e.g., along-range communication network, such as a cellular network, theInternet, or a computer network (e.g., LAN or wide area network (WAN)).These various types of communication modules may be implemented as asingle component (e.g., a single chip), or may be implemented as multicomponents (e.g., multi chips) separate from each other. The wirelesscommunication module 192 may identify and authenticate the electronicdevice 101 in a communication network, such as the first network 198 orthe second network 199, using subscriber information (e.g.,international mobile subscriber identity (IMSI)) stored in thesubscriber identification module 196.

The antenna module 197 may transmit or receive a signal or power to orfrom the outside (e.g., the external electronic device) of theelectronic device 101. According to an embodiment of the disclosure, theantenna module 197 may include an antenna including a radiating elementcomposed of a conductive material or a conductive pattern formed in oron a substrate (e.g., printed circuit board (PCB)). According to anembodiment of the disclosure, the antenna module 197 may include aplurality of antennas. In such a case, at least one antenna appropriatefor a communication scheme used in the communication network, such asthe first network 198 or the second network 199, may be selected, forexample, by the communication module 190 from the plurality of antennas.The signal or the power may then be transmitted or received between thecommunication module 190 and the external electronic device via theselected at least one antenna. According to an embodiment of thedisclosure, another component (e.g., a radio frequency integratedcircuit (RFIC)) other than the radiating element may be additionallyformed as part of the antenna module 197.

At least some of the above-described components may be coupled mutuallyand communicate signals (e.g., commands or data) therebetween via aninter-peripheral communication scheme (e.g., a bus, general purposeinput and output (GPIO), serial peripheral interface (SPI), or mobileindustry processor interface (MIPI)).

According to an embodiment of the disclosure, commands or data may betransmitted or received between the electronic device 101 and theexternal electronic device 104 via the server 108 coupled with thesecond network 199. Each of the electronic devices 102 and 104 may be adevice of a same type as, or a different type, from the electronicdevice 101. According to an embodiment of the disclosure, all or some ofoperations to be executed at the electronic device 101 may be executedat one or more of the external electronic devices 102, 104, or 108. Forexample, if the electronic device 101 should perform a function or aservice automatically, or in response to a request from a user oranother device, the electronic device 101, instead of, or in additionto, executing the function or the service, may request the one or moreexternal electronic devices to perform at least part of the function orthe service. The one or more external electronic devices receiving therequest may perform the at least part of the function or the servicerequested, or an additional function or an additional service related tothe request, and transfer an outcome of the performing to the electronicdevice 101. The electronic device 101 may provide the outcome, with orwithout further processing of the outcome, as at least part of a replyto the request. To that end, a cloud computing, distributed computing,or client-server computing technology may be used, for example.

The electronic device according to various embodiments may be one ofvarious types of electronic devices. The electronic devices may include,for example, a portable communication device (e.g., a smartphone), acomputer device, a portable multimedia device, a portable medicaldevice, a camera, a wearable device, or a home appliance. According toan embodiment of the disclosure, the electronic devices are not limitedto those described above.

It should be appreciated that various embodiments of the disclosure andthe terms used therein are not intended to limit the technologicalfeatures set forth herein to particular embodiments and include variouschanges, equivalents, or replacements for a corresponding embodiment.With regard to the description of the drawings, similar referencenumerals may be used to refer to similar or related elements. It is tobe understood that a singular form of a noun corresponding to an itemmay include one or more of the things, unless the relevant contextclearly indicates otherwise. As used herein, each of such phrases as “Aor B,” “at least one of A and B,” “at least one of A or B,” “A, B, orC,” “at least one of A, B, and C,” and “at least one of A, B, or C,” mayinclude any one of, or all possible combinations of the items enumeratedtogether in a corresponding one of the phrases. As used herein, suchterms as “1st” and “2nd,” or “first” and “second” may be used to simplydistinguish a corresponding component from another, and does not limitthe components in other aspect (e.g., importance or order). It is to beunderstood that if an element (e.g., a first element) is referred to,with or without the term “operatively” or “communicatively”, as “coupledwith,” “coupled to,” “connected with,” or “connected to” another element(e.g., a second element), it means that the element may be coupled withthe other element directly (e.g., wiredly), wirelessly, or via a thirdelement.

As used herein, the term “module” may include a unit implemented inhardware, software, or firmware, and may interchangeably be used withother terms, for example, “logic,” “logic block,” “part,” or“circuitry”. A module may be a single integral component, or a minimumunit or part thereof, adapted to perform one or more functions. Forexample, according to an embodiment of the disclosure, the module may beimplemented in a form of an application-specific integrated circuit(ASIC).

Various embodiments as set forth herein may be implemented as software(e.g., a program 140) including one or more instructions that are storedin a storage medium (e.g., internal memory 136 or external memory 138)that is readable by a machine (e.g., the electronic device 101). Forexample, a processor (e.g., the processor 120) of the machine (e.g., theelectronic device 101) may invoke at least one of the one or moreinstructions stored in the storage medium, and execute it. This allowsthe machine to be operated to perform at least one function according tothe at least one instruction invoked. The one or more instructions mayinclude a code generated by a complier or a code executable by aninterpreter. The machine-readable storage medium may be provided in theform of a non-transitory storage medium. Wherein, the term“non-transitory” simply means that the storage medium is a tangibledevice, and does not include a signal (e.g., an electromagnetic wave),but this term does not differentiate between where data issemi-permanently stored in the storage medium and where the data istemporarily stored in the storage medium.

According to an embodiment of the disclosure, a method according tovarious embodiments of the disclosure may be included and provided in acomputer program product. The computer program product may be traded asa product between a seller and a buyer. The computer program product maybe distributed in the form of a machine-readable storage medium (e.g.,compact disc read only memory (CD-ROM)), or be distributed (e.g.,downloaded or uploaded) online via an application store (e.g.,PlayStore™), or between two user devices (e.g., smart phones) directly.If distributed online, at least part of the computer program product maybe temporarily generated or at least temporarily stored in themachine-readable storage medium, such as memory of the manufacturer'sserver, a server of the application store, or a relay server.

According to various embodiments of the disclosure, each component(e.g., a module or a program) of the above-described components mayinclude a single entity or multiple entities. According to variousembodiments of the disclosure, one or more of the above-describedcomponents or operations may be omitted, or one or more other componentsor operations may be added. Alternatively or additionally, a pluralityof components (e.g., modules or programs) may be integrated into asingle component. In such a case, the integrated component may stillperform one or more functions of each of the plurality of components inthe same or similar manner as they are performed by a corresponding oneof the plurality of components before the integration. According tovarious embodiments of the disclosure, operations performed by themodule, the program, or another component may be carried outsequentially, in parallel, repeatedly, or heuristically, or one or moreof the operations may be executed in a different order or omitted, orone or more other operations may be added.

Hereinafter, various examples of an electronic device including at leastone housing structure, for example, two or more housing structures (orhousings) and a flexible display, will be described.

FIG. 2A is a view illustrating an electronic device including at leasttwo housing structures and a flexible display according to an embodimentof the disclosure, FIG. 2B is a view illustrating an electronic deviceincluding at least two housing structures and a flexible displayaccording to an embodiment of the disclosure, FIG. 2C) is a viewillustrating an electronic device including at least two housingstructures and a flexible display according to an embodiment of thedisclosure, FIG. 2D is a view illustrating an electronic deviceincluding at least two housing structures and a flexible displayaccording to an embodiment of the disclosure, FIG. 2E is a viewillustrating an electronic device including at least two housingstructures and a flexible display according to an embodiment of thedisclosure, FIG. 2F is a view illustrating an electronic deviceincluding at least two housing structures and a flexible displayaccording to an embodiment of the disclosure, FIG. 2G is a viewillustrating an electronic device including at least two housingstructures and a flexible display according to an embodiment of thedisclosure, FIG. 2H is a view illustrating an electronic deviceincluding at least two housing structures and a flexible displayaccording to an embodiment of the disclosure, FIG. 2I is a viewillustrating an electronic device including at least two housingstructures and a flexible display according to an embodiment of thedisclosure, FIG. 2J is a view illustrating an electronic deviceincluding at least two housing structures and a flexible displayaccording to an embodiment of the disclosure, and FIG. 2K is a viewillustrating an electronic device including at least two housingstructures and a flexible display according to an embodiment of thedisclosure.

According to various embodiments of the disclosure, an electronic devicemay include two or more housing structures, each of which is rotatablyconnected, and a flexible display.

According to various embodiments of the disclosure, the flexible displaymay be disposed on the two or more housing structures, and may be bentaccording to the rotated states of the housing structures. Therotational states of the housing structures will be described below.

According to various embodiments of the disclosure, an electronic devicehaving two or more housing structures and a flexible display providedtherein may be formed in various shapes depending on the rotated statesof the housing structures. For example, referring to FIGS. 2A to 2K, thevarious shapes include a shape in which two areas are formed in anelectronic device (e.g., a flexible display) (half fold), a shape inwhich three areas are formed in an electronic device (e.g., a flexibledisplay) (e.g., tri fold, Z fold, or single open gate fold), a shape inwhich four areas are formed in an electronic device (e.g., a flexibledisplay) (e.g., double parallel reverse fold, double parallel fold,double gate fold, roll fold, accordion fold, or half fold then halffold), and a shape in which a larger number of areas are formed in anelectronic device (e.g., a flexible display) (e.g., half fold then trifold). An electronic device may include housing structures that arerotatably connected to each other and a flexible display, and thehousing structures may be rotated to form a corresponding shape.

Hereinafter, an electronic device according to various embodiments and amethod of operating the same will be described taking an electronicdevice including two housings and a flexible display as an example.

Accordingly, the description of an electronic device according tovarious embodiments described below and a method of operating the sameare also applicable mutatis mutandis to an electronic device includingthree or more housings and a flexible display.

Accordingly, the description of an electronic device according tovarious embodiments described below and a method of operating the sameare also applicable mutatis mutandis to an electronic device includingtwo or more housings and two or more displays, which are disposed on thehousings, respectively. According to an embodiment of the disclosure, inthe case of an electronic device including two or more housings and twoor more displays disposed in each of the housings, respective displaysof the electronic device may form an angle with each other according tothe rotated states of the housings.

An electronic device 101 will be described.

FIG. 3A is a view illustrating an electronic device in an unfolded stateaccording to an embodiment of the disclosure. FIG. 3B is a viewillustrating the electronic device in a folded state according to anembodiment of the disclosure.

Referring to FIGS. 3A and 3B, in an embodiment of the disclosure, anelectronic device 300 may include a foldable housing 305, a hinge cover330 configured to cover the foldable portion of the foldable housing,and a flexible or foldable display 301 (hereinafter, simply referred toas a “display” 301) disposed in a space defined by the foldable housing305. Herein, the surface on which the display 301 is disposed is definedas a first surface or the front surface of the electronic device 300. Inaddition, the surface opposite the front surface is defined as a secondsurface or the rear surface of the electronic device 300. In addition,the surface surrounding the space between the front surface and the rearsurface is defined as a third surface or the side surface of theelectronic device 300.

In an embodiment of the disclosure, the foldable housing 305 may includea first housing structure 310, a second housing structure 320 includinga sensor area 324, a first rear cover 380, and a second rear cover 390.The foldable housing 305 of the electronic device 300 is not limited tothe shape and assembly illustrated in FIGS. 3A and 3B, and may beimplemented by combinations and/or assemblies of other shapes orcomponents. For example, in another embodiment of the disclosure, thefirst housing structure 310 and the first rear cover 380 may beintegrally formed, and the second housing structure 320 and the secondrear cover 390 may be integrally formed.

In the illustrated embodiment of the disclosure, the first housingstructure 310 and the second housing structure 320 may be disposed onopposite sides about a folding axis (axis A), and may have generallysymmetrical shapes about the folding axis A. As will be described later,the first housing structure 310 and the second housing structure 320 mayhave different angles or distances therebetween depending on whether theelectronic device 300 is in the unfolded state, in the folded state, orin the intermediate state. In the illustrated embodiment of thedisclosure, unlike the first housing structure 310, the second housingstructure 320 may further include the sensor area 324 in which varioussensors are disposed. However, the first housing structure 310 and thesecond housing structure 320 may have mutually symmetrical shapes inother areas.

In an embodiment of the disclosure, as illustrated in FIG. 3A, the firsthousing structure 310 and the second housing structure 320 may togetherform a recess that accommodates the display 301 therein. In theillustrated embodiment of the disclosure, due to the sensor area 324,the recess may have two or more different widths in a directionperpendicular to the folding axis A.

For example, the recess may have (1) a first width w₁ between a firstportion 310 a parallel to the folding axis A in the first housingstructure 310 and a first portion 320 a formed at an edge of the sensorarea 324 in the second housing structure 320, and (2) a second width w₂between a second portion 310 b in the first housing structure 310 and asecond portion 320 b, which is parallel to the folding axis A but doesnot correspond to the sensor area 324, in the second housing structure320. In this case, the second width w₂ may be greater than the firstwidth w₁. In other words, the first portion 310 a of the first housingstructure 310 and the first portion 320 a of the second housingstructure 320, which are asymmetrical with each other, may form thefirst width w₁ of the recess, and the second portion 310 b of the firsthousing structure 310 and the second portion 320 b of the second housingstructure 320, which are symmetrical with each other, may form thesecond width w₂ of the recess. In an embodiment of the disclosure, thefirst portion 320 a and the second portion 320 b of the second housingstructure 320 may be located at different distances from the foldingaxis A. The widths of the recess are not limited to the illustratedexample. In various embodiments of the disclosure, the recess may have aplurality of widths due to the shape of the sensor area 324 and due tothe asymmetric portions of the first housing structure 310 and thesecond housing structure 320.

In an embodiment of the disclosure, at least a portion of the firsthousing structure 310 and at least a portion of the second housingstructure 320 may be formed of a metal material or a non-metal materialhaving rigidity of a level selected in order to support the display 301.

According to an embodiment of the disclosure, the sensor area 324 may beformed to have a predetermined area adjacent to one corner of the secondhousing structure 320. However, the arrangement, shape, and size of thesensor area 324 are not limited to those in the illustrated example. Forexample, in another embodiment of the disclosure, the sensor area 324may be provided at another corner of the second housing structure 320 orin any area between the upper and lower end corners. In an embodiment ofthe disclosure, components embedded in the electronic device 300 toperform various functions may be exposed to the front surface of theelectronic device 300 through the sensor area 324 or one or moreopenings provided in the sensor area 324. In various embodiments of thedisclosure, the components may include various sensors. The sensors mayinclude at least one of, for example, a front camera, a receiver, or aproximity sensor.

The first rear cover 380 may be disposed at one side of the folding axison the rear surface of the electronic device, and may have, for example,a substantially rectangular periphery. The periphery may be enclosed bythe first housing structure 310. Similarly, the second rear cover 390may be disposed at the other side of the folding axis on the rearsurface of the electronic device, and the periphery of the second rearcover 390 may be enclosed by the second housing structure 320.

In the illustrated embodiment of the disclosure, the first rear cover380 and the second rear cover 390 may have substantially symmetricalshapes about the folding axis (the axis A). However, the first rearcover 380 and the second rear cover 390 do not necessarily have mutuallysymmetrical shapes, and in another embodiment of the disclosure, anelectronic device 300 may include a first rear cover 380 and a secondrear cover 390 having any of various shapes. In a still anotherembodiment of the disclosure, the first rear cover 380 may be integrallyformed with the first housing structure 310, and the second rear cover390 may be integrally formed with the second housing structure 320.

In an embodiment of the disclosure, the first rear cover 380, the secondrear cover 390, the first housing structure 310, and the second housingstructure 320 may define a space in which various components (e.g., aprinted circuit board or a battery) of the electronic device 300 may bedisposed. In an embodiment of the disclosure, one or more components maybe disposed or visually exposed on the rear surface of the electronicdevice 300. For example, at least a portion of a sub-display 383 may bevisually exposed through a first rear area 382 of the first rear cover380. In another embodiment of the disclosure, one or more components orsensors may be visually exposed through a second rear area 392 of thesecond rear cover 390. In various embodiments of the disclosure, thesensors may include a proximity sensor and/or a rear camera.

Referring to FIG. 3B, the hinge cover 330 may be disposed between thefirst housing structure 310 and the second housing structure 320 so asto cover an internal component (e.g., the hinge structure). In anembodiment of the disclosure, the hinge cover 330 may be covered by aportion of the first housing structure 310 and a portion of the secondhousing structure 320, or may be exposed to the outside depending onwhether the electronic device 300 is in the unfolded state (flat state)or in the folded state.

For example, as illustrated in FIG. 3A, when the electronic device 300is in the unfolded state, the hinge cover 330 may not be exposed bybeing covered by the first housing structure 310 and the second housingstructure 320. As an example, as illustrated in FIG. 3B, when theelectronic device 300 is in the folded state (e.g., the fully foldedstate), the hinge cover 330 may be exposed to the outside between thefirst housing structure 310 and the second housing structure 320. As anexample, when the first housing structure 310 and the second housingstructure 320 are in the intermediate state in which the first housingstructure 310 and the second housing structure 320 are folded to form apredetermined angle therebetween, the hinge cover 330 may be exposed tothe outside between the first housing structure 310 and the secondhousing structure 320. In this case, however, the exposed area may beless than that in the fully folded state. In an embodiment of thedisclosure, the hinge cover 330 may include a curved surface.

The display 301 may be disposed in a space defined by the foldablehousing 305. For example, the display 301 may be seated in the recessdefined by the foldable housing 305, and may constitute most of thefront surface of the electronic device 300.

Accordingly, the front surface of the electronic device 300 may includethe display 301, and a portion of the first housing structure 310 and aportion of the second housing structure 320, which are adjacent to thedisplay 301. In addition, the rear surface of the electronic device 300may include the first rear cover 380, a portion of the first housingstructure 310 adjacent to the first rear cover 380, the second rearcover 390, and a portion of the second housing structure 320 adjacent tothe second rear cover 390.

The display 301 may be a display in which at least a portion isdeformable into a planar surface or a curved surface. In an embodimentof the disclosure, the display 301 may include a folding area 304, afirst area 302 disposed on one side of the folding area 304 (e.g., theleft side of the folding area 304 illustrated in FIG. 3A), and a secondarea 303 disposed on the other side of the folding area 304 (e.g., theright side of the folding area 304 illustrated in FIG. 3A).

The area division of the display 301 illustrated in FIG. 3A isillustrative, and the display 301 may be divided into a plurality ofareas (e.g., four or more areas, or two areas) depending on thestructure or functions thereof. For example, in the embodimentillustrated in FIG. 3A, the area of the display 301 may be divided bythe folding area 304 or the folding axis (the axis A) extending parallelto the y axis. However, in another embodiment of the disclosure, thearea of the display 301 may be divided with reference to another foldingarea (e.g., a folding area parallel to the x axis) or another foldingaxis (e.g., a folding axis parallel to the x axis).

The first area 302 and the second area 303 may have generallysymmetrical shapes about the folding area 304. However, unlike the firstarea 302, the second area 303 may include a notch cut due to thepresence of the sensor area 324, but may have a shape symmetrical withthe first area 302 in areas other than the sensor area. In other words,the first area 302 and the second area 303 may include portions havingmutually symmetrical shapes and portions having mutually asymmetricalshapes.

Hereinafter, the operation of the first housing structure 310 and thesecond housing structure 320 and respective areas of the display 301according to the states of the electronic device 300 (e.g., the unfoldedstate (flat state) and the folded state) will be described.

According to an embodiment of the disclosure, when the electronic device300 is in the unfolded state (flat state) (e.g., FIG. 3A), the firsthousing structure 310 and the second housing structure 320 may bedisposed to form an angle of 180 degrees therebetween and to face thesame direction. The surface of the first area 302 and the surface of thesecond area 303 of the display 301 form an angle of 180 degrees relativeto each other, and may face the same direction (e.g., the frontdirection of the electronic device). The folding area 304 may form thesame plane as the first area 302 and the second area 303.

In an embodiment of the disclosure, when the electronic device 300 is inthe folded state (e.g., FIG. 3B), the first housing structure 310 andthe second housing structure 320 may be disposed to face each other. Thesurface of the first area 302 and the surface of the second area 303 ofthe display 301 may face each other while forming a narrow angle (e.g.,an angle between 0 degrees and 10 degrees) relative to each other. Atleast a portion of the folding area 304 may be a curved surface having apredetermined curvature.

According to an embodiment of the disclosure, when the electronic device300 is in the intermediate state (e.g., FIG. 3B), the first housingstructure 310 and the second housing structure 320 may be disposed toform a predetermined angle relative to each other. The surface of thefirst area 302 and the surface of the second area 303 of the display 301may form an angle larger than that in the folded state and smaller thanthat in the unfolded state. At least a portion of the folding area 304may have a curved face having a predetermined curvature, and thecurvature at this time may be smaller than that in the folded state.

FIG. 3C is an exploded perspective view of an electronic deviceaccording to an embodiment of the disclosure.

Referring to FIG. 3C, in an embodiment of the disclosure, the electronicdevice 300 may include a display unit 306, a bracket assembly 307, aboard unit 315, a first housing structure 310, a second housingstructure 320, a first rear cover 380, and a second rear cover 390.Herein, the display unit 306 may be referred to as a display module or adisplay assembly.

The display unit 306 may include a display 301 and at least one plate orlayer 140 on which the display 301 is seated. In an embodiment of thedisclosure, the plate 140 may be disposed between the display 301 andthe bracket assembly 307. The display 301 may be disposed on at least aportion of one surface (e.g., the top surface referring to FIG. 3C) ofthe plate 140. The plate 140 may be formed in a shape corresponding tothat of the display panel 301. For example, a portion of the plate 140may be formed in a shape corresponding to a notch 309 in the display301.

The bracket assembly 307 may include a first bracket 311, a secondbracket 312, a hinge structure disposed between the first bracket 311and the second bracket 312, a hinge cover 330 configured to cover thehinge structure when the hinge structure is viewed from the outside, anda wiring member 430 (e.g., a flexible printed circuit board (FPCB))extending across the first and second brackets 311 and 312.

In an embodiment of the disclosure, the bracket assembly 307 may bedisposed between the plate 140 and the board unit 315. For example, thefirst bracket 311 may be disposed between the first area 302 of thedisplay 301 and a first board 313. The second bracket 312 may bedisposed between the second area 303 and the second board 314 of thedisplay 301.

According to an embodiment of the disclosure, at least a portion of thewiring member 430 and at least a portion of the hinge structure 300 maybe disposed inside the bracket assembly 307. The wiring member 430 maybe disposed in a direction across the first bracket 311 and the secondbracket 312 (e.g., the x-axis direction). The wiring member 430 may bedisposed in a direction (e.g., the x-axis direction) perpendicular tothe folding axis (e.g., the y axis or the folding axis A in FIG. 3A) ofthe folding area 304 of the electronic device 300.

As described above, the board unit 315 may include the first board 313disposed on the first bracket 311 side and the second board 314 disposedon the second bracket 312 side. The first board 313 and the second board314 may be disposed in a space defined by the bracket assembly 307, thefirst housing structure 310, the second housing structure 320, the firstrear cover 380, and the rear cover 390. Components for implementingvarious functions of the electronic device 300 may be mounted on thefirst board 313 and the second board 314.

The first housing structure 310 and the second housing structure 320 maybe assembled to each other so as to be coupled to the opposite sides ofthe bracket assembly 307 in the state in which the display unit 306 iscoupled to the bracket assembly 307. As will be described later, thefirst housing structure 310 and the second housing structure 320 may becoupled to the bracket assembly 307 by sliding on the opposite sides ofthe bracket assembly 307.

In an embodiment of the disclosure, the first housing structure 310 mayinclude a first rotational support surface 312, and the second housingstructure 320 may include a second rotational support surface 322, whichcorresponds to the first rotational support surface 312. The firstrotational support surface 312 and the second rotational support surface322 may include curved surfaces corresponding to the curved surfaceincluded in the hinge cover 330.

In an embodiment of the disclosure, when the electronic device 300 is inthe unfolded state (e.g., the electronic device in FIG. 3A), the firstrotational support surface 312 and the second rotational support surface322 may cover the hinge cover 330 so that the hinge cover 330 may not beexposed or may be only minimally exposed to the rear surface of theelectronic device 300. Meanwhile, when the electronic device 300 is inthe folded state (e.g., the electronic device in FIG. 3B), the firstrotational support surface 312 and the second rotational support surface322 may rotate about the curved surface included in the hinge cover 330so that the hinge cover 330 may be exposed to the rear surface of theelectronic device 300 as much as possible.

Hereinafter, another example of the electronic device 101 will bedescribed. FIG. 4A is a view illustrating an electronic device 400(e.g., the electronic device 101 in FIG. 1 ) in the unfolded state withreference to a specific folding direction according to an embodiment ofthe disclosure.

Referring to FIG. 4A, the electronic device 400 may include a pair ofhousing structures 410 and 420 (e.g., a foldable housing structure),which are coupled to each other via a hinge structure 460 to berotatable relative to each other about a folding axis B, and a display330 (e.g., a flexible display or a foldable display) disposed in thespace defined by the pair of housing structures 410 and 420. In thefollowing description, the electronic device 400 in the unfolded stateillustrated in FIG. 4A differs from the electronic device 300 of FIG. 3Aonly in the shape of the display 301 due to the folding axes havingdifferent directions, and respective components of the electronic device400 may operate in the same manner as those of the electronic device300.

According to an embodiment of the disclosure, when the electronic device400 of FIG. 4A is in the unfolded state, the display 301 may beconfigured in a second shape different from a first shape. As anexample, the second shape may include a second aspect ratio (e.g., 16:9)different from the first aspect ratio (e.g., 4:3).

According to various embodiments of the disclosure, the first housingstructure 410 and the second housing structure 420 may be disposed atopposite sides about the folding axis B (e.g., a horizontal foldingaxis).

According to an embodiment of the disclosure, unlike the second housingstructure 420, the first housing structure 410 includes an area in whicha camera 414 and various sensors 415 are disposed, but in other areas,the first housing structure 410 may have a symmetrical shape. In anotherembodiment of the disclosure, the area in which the camera 414 andvarious sensors 415 are disposed may be additionally disposed in orreplaced with at least a portion of the second housing structure 420.

In another embodiment of the disclosure, the camera 414 or at least someof various sensors 415 may be disposed in at least a portion of thefirst housing 410, and the remaining ones thereof may be disposed in atleast a portion of the second housing structure 420.

According to various embodiments of the disclosure, in the state inwhich the electronic device 400 is unfolded, the first housing structure410 may include a first surface 411 facing the front side of theelectronic device 400, a second surface 412 facing away from the firstsurface 411, and a first surface member 413 surrounding at least aportion of the space between the first surface 411 and the secondsurface 412.

According to various embodiments of the disclosure, in the state inwhich the electronic device 400 is unfolded, the second housingstructure 420 may include a third surface 421 facing the front side ofthe electronic device 400, a fourth surface 422 facing away from thethird surface 421, and a second surface member 423 surrounding at leasta portion of the space between the third surface 421 and the fourthsurface 422.

According to various embodiments of the disclosure, the camera 414 maybe exposed on the front surface of the electronic device 400 through anopening provided in one corner of the first housing structure 410. Thesensors 415 may include at least one of a proximity sensor, anilluminance sensor, an iris recognition sensor, an ultrasonic sensor, oran indicator. As an example, the sensors 415 may be exposed on the frontsurface of the electronic device 400 through openings provided in onecorner of the first housing structure 410 or may be disposed at thelower end of at least a portion of the display 301.

According to various embodiments of the disclosure, the first housingstructure 410 may include a receiver 416 disposed through at least aportion thereof. In an embodiment of the disclosure, although notillustrated, the electronic device 400 may include an ear jack holedisposed through the first housing structure 410 and/or the secondhousing structure 420, an external speaker module, a SIM card tray, aninterface connector port, or at least one key button.

According to various embodiments of the disclosure, the first housingstructure 410 and the second housing structure 420 may have differentangles or distances therebetween depending on whether the electronicdevice 400 is in the unfolded state (flat state) (e.g., the state inFIG. 4A), in the folded state (e.g., the state of FIG. 4A, which will bedescribed later), or in the intermediate state. Without being limited tothe above description, depending on the angle between the first housingstructure 410 and the second housing structure 420, the electronicdevice may be in a closed state, in an open state, or in a half-foldedstate, which will be described later. The term “state” may beinterchangeable with the term “mode”.

According to various embodiments of the disclosure, the state of theelectronic device (e.g., the unfolded state, the folded state, or theintermediate state) may be set according to the angle between the firsthousing structure 410 and the second housing structure 420, and anoperation of displaying an execution screen of an application may beperformed according to the state of the electronic device (e.g., thestates of the housings, the state of the hinge, or the bent state of theflexible display). The operation of displaying an execution screen of anapplication according to the state of the electronic device will bedescribed later.

According to various embodiments of the disclosure, the electronicdevice 400 may include a first motion sensor 440 and a magnetic body(e.g., a magnet) 442 disposed in at least a portion of the first housingstructure 410. According to an embodiment of the disclosure, the firstmotion sensor 440 may be configured with a combination of at least twoof an acceleration sensor, an angular velocity sensor (e.g., a gyrosensor), or a geomagnetic sensor. For example, the electronic device 400may detect the orientation and the motion of the first housing structure410 through the first motion sensor 440. Specifically, the orientationof the first housing structure 410 is detected based on the accelerationsensor of the first motion sensor 440, and the motion of the firsthousing structure 410 may be detected by the angular velocity sensor ofthe first motion sensor 440. According to an embodiment of thedisclosure, the magnetic body 442 may be disposed in at least a portionof the first housing structure 410 adjacent to the hinge structure 460.

According to various embodiments of the disclosure, the electronicdevice 400 may include a second motion sensor 450 and a magnetic sensormodule 452 disposed in at least a portion of the second housingstructure 420. According to an embodiment of the disclosure, the secondmotion sensor 450 may be configured with a combination of at least twoof an acceleration sensor, an angular velocity sensor (e.g., a gyrosensor), or a geomagnetic sensor. As an example, the electronic device400 may detect the orientation of the second housing structure 420 usingthe acceleration sensor of the second motion sensor 450 and the motionof the second housing structure 420 using the angular velocity sensor ofthe second motion sensor 450. According to an embodiment of thedisclosure, the magnetic sensor module 452 may be disposed in at least aportion of the second housing structure 420 adjacent to the hingestructure 460. As an example, the magnetic body 442 of the first housingstructure 410 and the magnetic sensor module 452 of the second housingstructure 420 may be disposed to at least partially face each other inthe state in which the electronic device 400 is folded, as illustratedin FIG. 4B.

FIG. 4B is a view illustrating an electronic device (e.g., theelectronic device 101 in FIG. 1 ) in the folded state according to anembodiment of the disclosure.

Referring to FIG. 4B, the electronic device 400 may include a pair ofhousing structures 410 and 420 (e.g., a foldable housing structure),which are coupled to each other via a hinge structure 460 to be foldedrelative to each other about the folding axis B (e.g., the horizontalfolding axis), and a display (e.g., a flexible display or a foldabledisplay) disposed in a space defined by the pair of housing structures410 and 420.

According to various embodiments of the disclosure, the sensors mayinclude a rear camera device 472 and/or a proximity sensor 474.According to an embodiment of the disclosure, at least a portion of asub-display 470 may be visually exposed through the rear surface 412 ofthe first housing structure 410.

According to various embodiments of the disclosure, one or morecomponents may be disposed or visually exposed on the rear surface ofthe electronic device 400. According to an embodiment of the disclosure,one or more components or sensors may be visually exposed through therear surface (a second surface) 412 of the first housing structure 410.The sensors may include a rear camera device 472 and/or a proximitysensor 474. According to an embodiment of the disclosure, at least aportion of a sub-display 470 may be visually exposed through the rearsurface 412 of the first housing structure 410.

FIG. 5 is an exploded perspective view illustrating the electronicdevice 400 (e.g., the electronic device 101 in FIG. 1 ) according to anembodiment of the disclosure.

Referring to FIG. 5 , in various embodiments of the disclosure, theelectronic device 500 may include a display 510 (e.g., the display 301in FIG. 4A), a foldable housing 520 (e.g., the first housing structure410 and the second housing structure 420 in FIG. 4A), a printed circuitboard 530, a hinge structure 540, an antenna module 570, and a rearcover 580. Hereinafter, a detailed description of components overlappingthose illustrated in FIGS. 4A and 4B (e.g., the display 510, thefoldable housing 520, and the rear cover 580) will be omitted.

According to an embodiment of the disclosure, the display 510 may beexposed through a substantial portion of a front plate 511. In someembodiments of the disclosure, the shape of the display 510 may besubstantially the same as the shape of the periphery of the front plate511.

According to various embodiments of the disclosure, the foldable housing520 may include a first housing 521 and a second housing 522 (e.g., thefirst housing structure 410 and the second housing structure 420 in FIG.4A). According to an embodiment of the disclosure, the first housingstructure 521 may include a first surface 521 a and a second surface 521b facing away from the first surface 521 a, and the second housingstructure 522 may include a third surface 522(a) and a fifth surface522(b) facing away from the third surface 522(a). The foldable housing520 may additionally or alternatively include a bracket assembly. Thebracket assembly may include a first bracket assembly 523 disposed onthe first housing structure 521 and a second bracket assembly 524disposed on the second housing structure 522. At least a portion of thebracket assembly, for example, a portion 525 including at least aportion of the first bracket assembly 523 and at least a portion of thesecond bracket assembly 524, may serve as a plate for supporting thehinge structure 540.

According to various embodiments of the disclosure, various electricelements may be disposed on the printed circuit board 530. For example,a processor (e.g., the processor 120 in FIG. 1 ), a memory (e.g., thememory 130 in FIG. 1 ), and/or an interface (e.g., the interface 177 inFIG. 1 ) may be mounted on the printed circuit board 530. The processormay include at least one of, for example, a central processing unit, anapplication processor, a graphics processor, an image signal processor,a sensor hub processor, or a communication processor. The memory mayinclude, for example, a volatile memory or a nonvolatile memory. Theinterface may include, for example, a high-definition multimediainterface (HDMI), a universal serial bus (USB) interface, an SD cardinterface, and/or an audio interface. The interface may electrically orphysically connect, for example, the electronic device 300 to anexternal electronic device, and may include a USB connector, an SDcard/multimedia card MMC connector, or an audio connector.

According to various embodiments of the disclosure, the printed circuitboard 530 may include a first circuit board 531 disposed on the firstbracket assembly 523 side and a second printed circuit board 532disposed on the second bracket assembly 524 side. The first circuitboard 531 and the second printed circuit board 532 may be disposed inthe space defined by the foldable housing 520, the bracket assembly, thefirst rear cover 581, and/or the second rear cover 582. Components forimplementing various functions of the electronic device 500 may bemounted on the first printed circuit board 531 and the second printedcircuit board 532. For example, a processor may be disposed on the firstprinted circuit board 531, and an audio interface may be disposed on thesecond printed circuit board 532.

According to various embodiments of the disclosure, a battery may bedisposed adjacent to the printed circuit board 530 so as to supply powerto the electronic device 500. At least a portion of the battery may bedisposed to be substantially flush with, for example, the printedcircuit board 530. According to an embodiment of the disclosure, a firstbattery 533 may be disposed adjacent to the first printed circuit board531, and a second battery 534 may be disposed adjacent to the secondprinted circuit board 532. The battery is a device for supplying powerto at least one component of the electronic device 500, and may include,for example, a non-rechargeable primary battery, a rechargeablesecondary battery, or a fuel cell. The battery may be integrallydisposed inside the electronic device 500, or may be detachably disposedon the electronic device 500.

According to various embodiments of the disclosure, the hinge structure540 may be configured to support the foldable housing 520 and/or thebracket assembly such that the foldable housing 520 can rotate about afolding axis (e.g., the axis B in FIG. 4A). The hinge structure 540 mayinclude a first hinge structure 541 disposed on the first printedcircuit board 531 side and a second hinge structure 542 disposed on thesecond printed circuit board 532 side. The hinge structure 540 may bedisposed between the first printed circuit board 531 and the secondprinted circuit board 532. According to an embodiment of the disclosure,the hinge structure 540 may be formed substantially integrally with aportion 525 including at least a portion of the first bracket assembly523 and at least a portion of the second bracket assembly 524.

According to various embodiments of the disclosure, the antenna module570 may include a first antenna module 571 and a second antenna module572 disposed between the rear cover 580 and the battery. The antennamodule 570 may include, for example, a nearfield communication (NFC)antenna, a wireless charging antenna, and/or a magnetic securetransmission (MST) antenna. The antenna module 570 may performshort-range communication with, for example, an external electronicdevice, or may transmit/receive power required for charging to/from theexternal device in a wireless manner. In another embodiment of thedisclosure, an antenna structure may be formed by a portion of a sidebezel structure of the foldable housing 520, a portion of a bracketassembly, or a combination thereof.

According to various embodiments of the disclosure, the rear cover 580may include a first rear cover 581 and a second rear cover 582. The rearcover 580 may be coupled to the foldable housing 520 so as to protectthe above-described components (e.g., the printed circuit board 530, thebattery, and the antenna module 570) disposed inside the foldablehousing 520. As described above, the rear cover 580 may be configuredsubstantially integrally with the foldable housing 520.

FIG. 6A is a block diagram of an electronic device according to anembodiment of the disclosure.

Referring to FIG. 6A, an electronic device (e.g., the electronic device101 in FIG. 1 , the electronic device 300 in FIG. 3A, the electronicdevice 400 in FIG. 4A, or the electronic device 500 of FIG. 5 ) mayinclude a display device 611, a sub-display 612, a display driver IC(DDI) 621, a sub-DDI 622, a sensor module 640, or a processor 630.

According to various embodiments of the disclosure, the display 611(e.g., the display 301 in FIG. 4A) may be disposed on the inner surfaceportions of a foldable housing that face each other when the electronicdevice 400 is folded. For example, the display 611 may be disposed onthe first surface of the first housing structure 410 and the thirdsurface of the second housing 420 such that the portions of the display611 face each other when the electronic device 400 is in the foldedstate. For example, the display 611 may extend from the first surface tothe third surface so as to form the first surface and the third surface.

According to various embodiments of the disclosure, the sub-display 612(e.g., the sub-display 470 in FIG. 4B) may be exposed through at least aportion of the outer surface of the foldable housing when the electronicdevice 400 is in the folded state. For example, the sub-display 612 maybe disposed to be visible through at least a portion of the secondsurface of the first housing structure 410 or the fourth surface of thesecond housing structure 420. For example, the sub-display 612 may bevisible through at least a portion of the second surface or through atleast a portion of the fourth surface.

According to various embodiments of the disclosure, the DDI 621 mayinclude an interface module (not illustrated), a memory (e.g., buffermemory) (not illustrated), an image-processing module (not illustrated),or a mapping module (not illustrated). The DDI 621 may receive, forexample, video data, or video information including a video controlsignal corresponding to an instruction for controlling the video data,from other components of the electronic device 400 via the interfacemodule. For example, the DDI 621 may receive the video information fromthe processor 630 or an auxiliary processor (not illustrated) (e.g., agraphics-processing device) operated independently from the function ofthe processor 630. According to an embodiment of the disclosure, the DDI621 may communicate with a touch circuit, a sensor module 640, or thelike via the interface module. According to an embodiment of thedisclosure, the DDI 621 may store at least a part of the received videoinformation in the memory, for example, in frame units.

According to various embodiments of the disclosure, an image-processingmodule (not illustrated) may perform pre-processing or post-processing(e.g., adjustment of resolution, brightness, or size) on, for example,at least a part of the video data based at least on the characteristicsof the video data or the characteristics of the display 611.

According to various embodiments of the disclosure, a mapping module(not illustrated) may generate a voltage value or a current valuecorresponding to the video data pre-processed or post-processed via theimage-processing module. According to an embodiment of the disclosure,the generation of the voltage value or the current value may beperformed based at least on, for example, the attributes of the pixelsof the display 611 (e.g., the array of pixels (an RGB stripe or pentilestructure) or the size of each of sub-pixels). At least some of thepixels of the display 611 are driven based at least partially on, forexample, the voltage value or the current value, so that visualinformation (e.g., text, images, or icons) corresponding to the videodata can be displayed through the display 611.

According to various embodiments of the disclosure, the sub-DDI 622 maydrive the sub-display 612 so as to display an image based on imageinformation received from the processor 630. According to an embodimentof the disclosure, the sub-DDI 622 differs from the main DDI 621 only inthat it drives the sub-display 612, and may include components which arethe same or similar to those of the main DDI 621. For example, thesub-DDI 622 may include an interface module, a memory (e.g., buffermemory), an image-processing module, or a mapping module so as toperform a function similar to that of the DDI 621.

According to various embodiments of the disclosure, the sensor module640 may include an acceleration sensor, an angular velocity sensor(e.g., a gyro sensor), or a geomagnetic sensor. When a change in thestate of the housing of the electronic device (e.g., a change in anglebetween the housings) is detected using the sensor module 640,information about the change may be transmitted to the processor.

According to various embodiments of the disclosure, the processor 630may include a first display port 631 operatively connected to the DDI621, and a second display port 632 operatively connected to the sub-DDI622. Alternatively, the first display port 631 operatively connected tothe DDI 621 and the second display port 632 operatively connected to thesub-DDI 622 may be provided separately from the processor 630. Theprocessor 630 may transmit first image information to the DDI 621through the first display port 631, and may transmit second imageinformation to the sub-DDI 622 through the second display port 632. Theprocessor 630 may identify the state information of the electronicdevice (e.g., an open mode or a half-folded mode to be described later)based on the information on the change in the states of the housingsobtained from the sensor module 640, and may control applications tochange an execution screen based on the identified state information. Anoperation in which the processor 630 controls applications to change anexecution screen will be described later with reference to FIGS. 17 to20 .

FIG. 6B is a view illustrating a situation in which a program includedin an electronic device identifies the state change of the electronicdevice and outputs a result of identification to a display according toan embodiment of the disclosure.

According to various embodiments of the disclosure, the first imageinformation and the second image information may be the same. Forexample, the processor 630 may transmit image information including thesame image data to the DDI 621 and the sub-DDI 622.

Referring to FIG. 6B, when an application 651 has a data base of atleast one application executed in an electronic device (e.g., theelectronic device 101 in FIG. 1 , the electronic device 300 in FIGS. 3Aand 3B, the electronic device 400 in FIG. 4A, or the electronic device500 in FIG. 5 ), execution of a specific application may be requested inresponse to user input.

According to various embodiments of the disclosure, a display manager661 (or a window manager) of a framework 660 may control the states ofthe displays 611 and 612. In addition, the display manager 661 (or thewindow manager) may determine the sizes, positions, or transparencies ofthe windows displayed on the displays 611 and 612, and may carry out adrawing control command for the windows. According to an embodiment ofthe disclosure, the display manager and the window manager may beimplemented separately.

According to various embodiments of the disclosure, the power manager667 of the framework 660 may manage the power state of all or somemodules of the electronic device 400 in order to efficiently adjust theamount of current consumed by the electronic device 400. The managementof the power state may be performed, for example, through control of avoltage or a clock frequency.

According to various embodiments of the disclosure, an input framework665 of the framework 660 may receive various sensing values formeasuring the unfolded/folded state of the electronic device 400. Theinput framework 665 may identify the sensing values acquired from one ormore sensors, may determine the unfolded/folded state of the electronicdevice 400, and may transmit the determined result to the processor 630.

According to various embodiments of the disclosure, a folding/unfoldingevent handler 663 of the framework 660 may receive the unfolding/foldingevent of the electronic device 400 transmitted to the processor 630, andmay control on/off of the display 611 and the sub-display 612 through apower manager 667.

According to various embodiments of the disclosure, a graphic composer669 of the framework 660 may synthesize graphic information of eachwindow of the displays 611 and 612 into a framebuffer 671. Theframebuffer 671 may store graphic information to be output to thedisplays 611 and 612. Sensor drivers 680 (e.g., an angle sensor driver683, a distance sensor driver 685, and a gyroscope sensor driver 687)may be software modules for controlling an integrated circuit (IC).

According to various embodiments of the disclosure, the electronicdevice 400 may determine a display to be activated in response to thechange of the electronic device 400 from a first state to a secondstate.

For example, the sensor drivers 680 (e.g., one or more of the anglesensor driver 683, the distance sensor driver 685, and the gyroscopesensor driver 687) may transmit sensing values to the input framework665. The input framework 665 may transmit information indicating thatthe electronic device 400 is in the second state to an folding/unfoldingevent handler 663 using the acquired sensing values.

According to various embodiments of the disclosure, thefolding/unfolding event handler 663 may transmit a request foractivation of the display 611 and deactivation of the sub-display 612 tothe power manager 667 and the display manager 661 of the framework 660based on, for example, the state of a currently running application, apre-stored policy in response to a state change of the electronic device400, and the activation/deactivation-permitted state of the displays 611and 612.

According to various embodiments of the disclosure, in response to therequest acquired from the folding/unfolding event handler 663, the powermanager 667 of the framework 660 may activate the display 611 and maycontrol the display driver 694 to deactivate the sub-display, togetherwith a power controller 692. The deactivation of the sub-display 612 andthe activation of the display 611 may be performed sequentially orsimultaneously.

According to various embodiments of the disclosure, the operation ofactivating or deactivating the displays 611 and 612 may be performed bycontrolling the current applied to the displays 611 and 612 andcontrolling the brightness of the light source elements of the displays611 and 612. The operation of activating or deactivating the displays611 and 612 may be performed using both the power manager 667 and thedisplay manager 661 or only one of the power manager 667 and the displaymanager 661.

According to various embodiments of the disclosure, in response to therequest acquired from the folding/unfolding event handler 663, thedisplay manager 661 may configure and display an image shown in themiddle of changing to the active state, may control the positions andsizes of the windows displayed on the displays 611 and 612, may removean image displayed and shown in the middle of changing the displays 611and 612 from the inactive state to the active state, and may thendisplay the windows on the displays 611 and 612.

FIG. 7 is a view illustrating an execution screen and/or a UI/UX of(e.g., 721, 722) of an application according to an embodiment of thedisclosure.

Referring to FIG. 7 , the application 701 may be various applicationsincluding a native application, a web application, and a hybridapplication. For example, the application 701 may include a home,dialer, SMS/MMS, instant message (IM), browser, camera, alarm, addressbook, voice recognition, email, calendar, media player, album, watch,fitness (e.g., measurement of exercise or blood sugar), or environmentalinformation (e.g., atmospheric pressure, humidity, or temperatureinformation) application. According to an embodiment of the disclosure,the application may further include an information exchange application(not illustrated) capable of supporting information exchange between theelectronic device and an external electronic device. The informationexchange application may include, for example, a notification relayapplication configured to transmit designated information (e.g., a call,a message, or an alarm) to an external electronic device, or a devicemanagement application configured to manage the external electronicdevice. The notification relay application may transmit, for example,notification information corresponding to an event (e.g., mailreception) generated in another application (e.g., the emailapplication) of the electronic device to an external electronic device,or may receive notification information from an external electronicdevice and may provide the notification information to the user of theelectronic device 101. The device management application may control,for example, the power supply (e.g., turning on or off) of an externalelectronic device, which communicates with the electronic device, orsome of the components (e.g., a display or a camera module) or functions(e.g., brightness, resolution, or focus of the display device or thecamera module) of the external electronic device. The device managementapplication may additionally or alternatively support the installation,deletion, or update of an application executed in an external electronicdevice.

According to various embodiments of the disclosure, the application 701may include a plurality of states 711 and 712. The states may befunctional units representing states or layers implemented to providespecific functions constituting the application. In other words, oneapplication 701 may be implemented to provide a plurality of states 711and 712. For example, a messaging application may include a first stateimplemented to provide a function for displaying an address book, and asecond state implemented to provide a function for preparing a message.In other words, one application may be implemented to be executed in aspecific state in order to provide a specific function, and to displayan execution screen and/or a UI/UX (e.g., 721, 722) produced (orprepared) to provide a specific state.

The plurality of states included in the one application 701 may haveinformation for accessing the plurality of states 711 and 712 (e.g.,address information and reference information). Accordingly, whenexecuting the application 701 in a specific state, the electronic devicemay identify information for accessing the specific state (e.g., addressinformation), and may execute the application in the specific statebased on the identified information.

The plurality of states 711 and 712 included in the one application 701may be organically associated with each other. For example, one stateand another state may be associated such that the one application 701 ischanged from the one state to the other state.

According to various embodiments of the disclosure, the one application701 may be implemented to provide an execution screen and/or a UI/UX(e.g., 721, 722) including at least one graphic element. For example,the one application 701 may be implemented to provide an executionscreen and/or a UI/UX (e.g., 721, 722) including at least one elementprepared in advance. In addition, for example, the one application 701may be configured to reconfigure at least one element based oninformation about the at least one element (e.g., information on thetype and attribute of the element, and information indicating thelocations where the element is displayed), and to provide a reconfiguredexecution screen and/or a UI/UX (e.g., 721, 722).

According to various embodiments of the disclosure, as illustrated inFIG. 7 , the one application may include an execution screen and/or aUI/UX (e.g., 721, 722) including at least one graphic element for eachstate 711 or 712. In other words, the one application may be implementedto provide (or display) an execution screen and/or a UI/UX (e.g., 721,722) including at least one graphic element for each state 711 or 712.For example, in order to provide a specific state, an execution screenand/or a UI/UX (e.g., 721, 722) of an application including at least onegraphic element may be prepared. Accordingly, when the application isexecuted in a specific state, the electronic device may display anexecution screen and/or a UI/UX (e.g., 721, 722) of an applicationprepared to provide a specific state. As an example, as illustrated inFIG. 7 , the application may be implemented to display an executionscreen 721 including first to sixth elements E1 to E6 for providing afirst function in the first state 711, and may be implemented to displayan execution screen 722 including a first element E1 and seventh toninth elements E7 to E9 for providing a second function in the secondstate 712.

When changing from one state to another state, the one application 701may display a first execution screen corresponding to the one state andmay then display a second execution screen corresponding to the otherstate. For example, when input for changing to another state is receivedon the first execution screen (e.g., upon receiving input for a specificelement for calling another state) while a first execution screencorresponding to one state is being displayed, the one application 701may display the second execution screen corresponding to the otherstate. The specific element may be implemented such that the application701 is executed according to the other state according to informationfor accessing the other state.

In addition, according to various embodiments of the disclosure, the oneapplication 701 may include an execution screen and/or a UI/UX (e.g.,721, 722) for each of various modes associated with specific states. Thevarious modes may be modes respectively set for various states of theelectronic device.

For example, the various modes may include a mode set for each rotatedstate (or orientation) of the electronic device. For example, theelectronic device may be set to a horizontal mode based on the state inwhich the electronic device is rotated to a horizontal orientation, andmay be set to a vertical mode based on the state in which the electronicdevice is rotated to a vertical orientation. In other words, states forproviding specific functions of an application may include an executionscreen and/or a UI/UX (e.g., 721, 722) displayed based on the fact thatthe electronic device is in one mode (e.g., the horizontal mode), and anexecution screen and/or a UI/UX (e.g., 721, 722) displayed based on thefact that the electronic device is in another mode (e.g., the verticalmode). Accordingly, an application 701 may display execution screenscorresponding to various modes of the electronic device.

In addition, for example, the various modes may include modes related tothe states of two or more housings (e.g., angles between the housings)provided in the electronic device, which will be described later withreference to FIG. 15 . In this case, an application implemented toprovide an execution screen and/or a UI/UX (e.g., 721, 722) for eachmode related to the state of the housings may be defined as anapplication supporting a function of changing an execution screenaccording to a change in angle.

According to various embodiments of the disclosure, the graphic elementsmay include various visual objects or content that can be displayed onan execution screen. For example, the graphic elements may includevarious boxes including lists, combo boxes, and check boxes forproviding various functions that can be arranged on an execution screenand/or a UI/UX (e.g., 721, 722), various buttons including togglebuttons and radio buttons, and various objects including tool bars,dials, sliders, input fields, drop-down menus, and progress bars. Inaddition, for example, the graphic elements may include content (e.g.,multimedia content) that can be provided to the user in visual, audible,and tactile manners. For example, the content may include web content,video content, image content, and the like.

According to various embodiments of the disclosure, the elements mayhave information indicating the positions of the elements in theexecution screen (e.g., coordinate values).

According to various embodiments of the disclosure, a graphic elementmay have at least one attribute. The at least one attribute may includean attribute, such as a name. Based on the attributes of the graphicelements, the graphic elements may be classified into an element groupfor providing a visual view or an element group for providing a specificfunction. For example, graphic elements having a name attribute, such asmultimedia content, may be classified into an element group forproviding a visual view, and graphic elements having a name attribute,such as an icon, a box, or a toggle button, may be classified into anelement group for providing a specific function. An electronic devicemay identify the attribute of a graphic element and may rearrange theposition of the graphic element included in the execution screen basedon the identified attribute of the graphic element, which will bedescribed later with reference to FIGS. 21 to 25 .

In order to cause the operations of an electronic device 101 accordingto various embodiments described below (e.g., electronic devices havinga form factor illustrated in FIGS. 2A-2K, the electronic device 300 ofFIG. 3A, the electronic device 400 of FIG. 4A, and the electronic device500 in FIG. 5 ) to be performed, a processor 120 or 630 may control thecomponents of the electronic device 101. In addition, when instructionsor codes stored in the memory are executed, the processor 120 or 630 maybe controlled such that the operations of the electronic device 101according to various embodiments are performed.

Hereinafter, operations of the electronic device 101 according tovarious embodiments will be described.

According to various embodiments of the disclosure, the electronicdevice 101 may display an execution screen of an application accordingto an angle between the housings (e.g., the first housing structure 521and the second housing structure 522).

FIG. 8 is a flowchart 800 illustrating operations of an electronicdevice 101 according to an embodiment of the disclosure.

Referring to FIG. 8 , the operations are not limited to the illustratedorder, and may be performed in various orders. In addition, according tovarious embodiments of the disclosure, a greater or smaller number ofoperations than the operations illustrated in FIG. 8 may be performed.Hereinafter, the operations of FIG. 8 will be described with referenceto FIGS. 9 and 10 .

FIG. 9 is a view illustrating operations of an electronic device 101according to an embodiment of the disclosure.

Referring to FIG. 9 , the dotted lines indicate elements included inexecution screens. The execution screen is not limited to thoseillustrated in FIG. 9 , and may further include additional elements, ormay include fewer elements. FIG. 10 is a view illustrating modes of anelectronic device 101 associated with angles between housings (e.g., afirst housing 521 and a second housing 522) of the electronic deviceaccording to an embodiment of the disclosure. FIG. 11 is a flowchartillustrating operations of illustrating electronic device according toan embodiment of the disclosure.

According to various embodiments of the disclosure, the electronicdevice 101 (e.g., at least one processor 120) may display a firstexecution screen 911 of a first application in operation 801. Forexample, the electronic device 101 may acquire events for executing thefirst application (e.g., an application automatic execution event basedon icon selection for executing the first application, executing thefirst application, by the electronic device 101, without the selectionof the icon, and a lock screen execution event based on the locked stateof the electronic device 101). In response to an acquired event, theelectronic device 101 may execute the first application, and may displaythe first execution screen 911 of the first application, as illustratedin 901 of FIG. 9 .

According to various embodiments of the disclosure, the first executionscreen 911 may be an execution screen corresponding to any one ofvarious states of the electronic device 101. For example, the firstexecution screen 911 may be an execution screen displayed according tothe rotated state (or orientation) of the electronic device 101. Forexample, the first execution screen 911 may be an execution screencorresponding to a horizontal mode or a vertical mode. In other words,the electronic device 101 may identify whether it is in the horizontalmode or the vertical mode according to the rotated state thereof, andmay display the first execution screen 911 corresponding to thehorizontal mode of the first application or the first execution screen911 corresponding to the vertical mode. For example, the first executionscreen 911 may be an execution screen displayed according to the statesof the housings of the electronic device 101 (e.g., the angle betweenthe housings). An execution screen displayed according to the states ofthe housings of the electronic device 101 will be described later.

According to various embodiments of the disclosure, the first executionscreen 911 may be an execution screen corresponding to the first stateof the first application. In other words, the electronic device 101 maydisplay an execution screen for providing a first function among aplurality of execution screens. A redundant description of the states ofapplications will be omitted.

According to various embodiments of the disclosure, the electronicdevice 101 (e.g., at least one processor 120) may identify the anglebetween the first housing structure 521 and the second housing structure522 in operation 802, and may identify whether or not the angle fallswithin a predetermined range in operation 803. For example, asillustrated in 901 and 902 in FIG. 9 , when at least one of the housingsis rotated about a rotation axis 912 (e.g., a hinge) in a predetermineddirection (e.g., clockwise or counterclockwise), the electronic device101 may identify the angle formed between the housing structures (e.g.,521, 522) by the rotation, and may identify the range within which theidentified angle falls.

According to various embodiments of the disclosure, the electronicdevice 101 (e.g., at least one processor 120) may identify the anglebetween the first housing structure 521 and the second housing 5structure 22 using a sensor module. For example, the electronic device101 may detect the distance between the first housing structure 521 andthe second housing structure 522 using a magnetic sensor (e.g., a Hallsensor) so as to determine whether or not the first housing structure521 or the second housing structure 522 is rotated in one direction(e.g., clockwise or counterclockwise) about the rotation axis 912 (e.g.,a hinge). In addition, for example, the electronic device 101 may detectthe angle between the first housing structure 521 and the second housingstructure 522 using at least one motion sensor (e.g., an accelerationsensor or a gyro sensor). A redundant description of the operation ofdetecting the rotation of the housings and the angle between thehousings using the sensor module of the electronic device 101 will beomitted.

According to various embodiments of the disclosure, the electronicdevice 101 (e.g., at least one processor 120) may identify the states ofthe housings (e.g., the first housing structure 521 and the secondhousing structure 522) (e.g., the angle between the first housingstructure 521 and the second housing structure 522), and may identify amode corresponding to the identified state. For example, as illustratedin 902 and 903 of FIG. 9 , the electronic device may identify the anglebetween the first housing structure 521 and the second housing structure522, and, as illustrated in FIG. 10 , the electronic device may identifya second mode 1002 corresponding to a second angular range, within whichthe identified angle falls, among a plurality of modes 1001.

For example, the electronic device 101 (e.g., at least one processor120) may identify a mode corresponding to the angle between the housings(e.g., the first housing structure 521 and the second housing structure522). As illustrated in FIG. 10 , the electronic device 101 stores aplurality of modes 1001 associated with the angle between the firsthousing structure 521 and the second housing structure 522, and mayidentify a mode corresponding to the angle between the first housingstructure 521 and the second housing structure 522. Each of theplurality of modes 1001 (e.g., a first mode and a second mode in FIG. 10) may correspond to a specific angular range (e.g., a first range and asecond range in FIG. 10 ). For example, the plurality of modes 1001 mayinclude a closed mode corresponding to an angular range between 0° and10°, a hysteresis mode corresponding to an angular range between 11° and20°, a first open mode corresponding to an angular range between 21° and90°, a half-folded mode corresponding to an angular range between 91°and 130°, and a second open mode corresponding to an angular rangebetween 131° to 180°. The hysteresis mode may be a mode set such that apredetermined event (e.g., an execution screen change event) does notoccur depending on the angle between the first housing structure 521 andthe second housing structure 522. Meanwhile, the angular rangescorresponding to respective a plurality of modes 1001 are not limited tothose described above, and may be variously set. In addition, thespecific angular ranges may include a specific range from one angle toanother angle, or may include only a specific angle. For example, thefirst mode (e.g., an open mode) may be set to correspond to a specificangle (e.g., 180°) or a specific angular range (e.g., between 131° and180°). In addition, angular ranges that respectively correspond to theplurality of modes 1001 may be set differently depending on whether theelectronic device 101 is in contact with a support surface, which willbe described later with reference to FIGS. 28 to 29 .

According to various embodiments of the disclosure, the “mode” mayconceptually include an information unit to be used by the electronicdevice 101 (e.g., at least one processor 120) for identifying the statesof the housings provided in the electronic device 101. Accordingly, theelectronic device 101 is capable of providing service corresponding tothe current states of the housings (e.g., the angle between thehousings) to the user by controlling the overall operation of theelectronic device 101 based on the current mode.

The various embodiments are not limited to the above description, andthe above description is also applicable mutatis mutandis to the case inwhich more than two housings are provided. For example, when theelectronic device 101 is provided with three housings (e.g., a firsthousing 521, a second housing 522, and a third housing), a first modecorresponding to a first angle between the first housing structure 521and the second housing structure 522 and a second angular range betweenthe second housing structure 522 and the third housing may bedetermined.

Hereinbelow, for convenience of description, when the first angle fallswithin a predetermined range, the current angle will be described asfalling within an angular range corresponding to a half-folded mode.Accordingly, the following description is also applicable mutatismutandis not only to the case in which the current angle falls withinthe angular range corresponding to the half-folded mode, but also to thecase in which the current angle falls within an angular rangecorresponding to another mode.

According to various embodiments of the disclosure, the electronicdevice 101 (e.g., at least one processor 120) may identify the anglebetween the first housing structure 521 and the second housing structure522 at various time points.

For example, when rotation of at least one of the first housingstructure 521 and the second housing structure 522 is initiated (e.g.,clockwise or counterclockwise), the electronic device 101 (e.g., atleast one processor 120) may identify the angle between the firsthousing structure 521 and the second housing structure 522.

For example, while at least one of the first housing structure 521 andthe second housing structure 522 starts to rotate (e.g., clockwise orcounterclockwise) about the rotation axis 912 (e.g., the hinge) androtates, the electronic device 101 (e.g., at least one processor 120)may continuously identify the angle between the first housing structure521 and the second housing structure 522. As another example, at thetime point at which the rotation of at least one of the first housingstructure 521 and the second housing structure 522 is stopped afterstarting to rotate around the rotation axis 912, the electronic device101 may identify the angle between the first housing structure 521 andthe second housing structure 522.

In addition, for example, the electronic device 101 (e.g., the at leastone processor 120) may identify the angle between the first housingstructure 521 and the second housing structure 522 at a predeterminedperiod, regardless of the rotation of at least one of the first housingstructure 521 and the second housing structure 522.

According to various embodiments of the disclosure, the electronicdevice 101 (e.g., at least one processor 120) may display a secondexecution screen 913 the first application associated with thepredetermined range of in operation 804. For example, when the currentangle falls within the second angular range (e.g., 91° to 130°) shown inFIG. 10 , the electronic device 101 may identify the second modecorresponding to the second angular range (e.g., a half-folded mode),and may display the second execution screen 913 associated with thesecond mode of the first application. As an example, when the anglebetween the first housing structure 521 and the second housing structure522 is a specific angle (e.g., 120°), the electronic device 101 mayidentify that the angle falls within a specific range (e.g., 91° to130°), and may identify the half-folded mode corresponding to thespecific range. Based on the identified half-folded mode, the electronicdevice 101 may display the execution screen of the first application asthe second execution screen 913 corresponding to the half-folded mode.

According to various embodiments of the disclosure, the second executionscreen 913 may be the execution screen set to be displayed in a modeassociated with the predetermined range of the first state of the firstapplication (e.g., the half-folded mode). In other words, the firstapplication may be implemented to provide, in the first state forproviding the first function, the first execution screen 911 associatedwith the horizontal mode or the vertical mode and the second executionscreen 913 associated with the mode corresponding to the predeterminedrange (e.g., the half-folded mode). Accordingly, when the angle betweenthe housings falls within the predetermined range while the firstapplication is running in the first state, the electronic device 101 maycontrol the first application to display the second execution screen 913associated with the predetermined range corresponding to the first stateof the first application. For example, the first application may be setto provide various execution screens (e.g., the first execution mode 911and the second execution mode 913) for respective modes for one state(e.g., the first state). The electronic device 101 may identify inadvance that the first application is capable of providing variousexecution screens for respective modes for one state. When modeswitching (e.g., switching to the half-folded mode) is detected, theelectronic device 101 may provide information associated with the modeswitching to the first application, and may display the second executionscreen 913 in response thereto. Regarding the above-described switchingdisplay of screens provided by an application, there is no limitation onthe method by which the electronic device 101 provides execution screensfor respective modes.

An execution screen associated with a mode corresponding to apredetermined range of an application (e.g., the half-folded mode) willbe described later.

According to various embodiments of the disclosure, when the anglebetween the first housing structure 521 and the second housing structure522 falls within the predetermined range, the electronic device 101(e.g., at least one processor 120) may identify whether or not apredetermined condition is satisfied, and may display the secondexecution screen 913 when it is identified that the specific conditionis satisfied. The predetermined condition to be satisfied may include acondition associated a rotating speed of at least one of the firsthousing structure 521 and the second housing structure 522 or a lapse ofa predetermined time from a specific point in time.

For example, when the rotating speed of at least one of the firsthousing structure 521 or the second housing structure 522 increasesbeyond a preset value and then decreases to a value equal to or smallerthan the preset value, the electronic device 101 (e.g., at least oneprocessor 120) may display the second execution screen 913. For example,when the rotating speed exceeds 0 and then returns to 0, the electronicdevice 101 may display the second execution screen 913. As anotherexample, when the occurrence of acceleration of the rotating speed isdetected, the electronic device 101 may display the second executionscreen 913. In other words, when the rotational speed is maintained at acertain level (e.g., within a preset range) and is then changed, theelectronic device 101 may display the second execution screen 913. Forexample, when a predetermined time Δt elapses after the rotation of atleast one of the first housing structure 521 and the second housingstructure 522 is stopped, the electronic device 101 may display thesecond execution screen 913. Without being limited to the abovedescription, the predetermined condition to be satisfied may beassociated with whether or not the electronic device 101 is in contactwith a support surface, which will be described later with reference toFIG. 25 .

According to various embodiments of the disclosure, when displaying thesecond execution screen 913 in place of the first execution screen 911,the electronic device 101 (e.g., the at least one processor 120) mayprovide various kinds of effects. The various kinds of effects mayinclude a visual effect, an auditory effect, or a tactile effect. Forexample, when displaying the second execution screen 913 in place of thefirst execution screen 911, the electronic device 101 may display avisual effect of changing the screen (e.g., an animation in which thefirst execution screen 911 gradually changes to the second executionscreen 913) and the second execution screen 913. Alternatively, whendisplaying the second execution screen 913 in place of the firstexecution screen 911, the electronic device 101 may output audionotifying of the change of execution screens through a speaker, and maydisplay the second execution screen 913. Meanwhile, when the firstexecution screen 911 is changed to the second execution screen 913, theelectronic device 101 may cause the graphic elements included in thefirst execution screen 911 to be moved, which will be described laterwith reference to FIGS. 22 to 24 .

According to various embodiments of the disclosure, after the secondexecution screen 913 of the first application is displayed, when theangle between the first housing structure 521 and the second housingstructure 522 is changed and falls within a range different from theprevious range, the electronic device 101 (e.g., at least one processor120) may display the execution screen associated with the other range.For example, when the angle between the first housing structure 521 andthe second housing structure 522 is changed and the range within whichthe angle falls (e.g., 91° to 130°) falls another range, the electronicdevice 101 may identify another mode corresponding to the other range,and may display an execution screen associated with the identified othermode of the first application. As an example, as illustrated in 905 ofFIG. 9 , when the angle between the first housing structure 521 and thesecond housing structure 522 falls within the original angular range(e.g., 21° to 90°), the electronic device 101 may display the executionscreen associated with the mode corresponding to the original angularrange (e.g., an open mode).

According to various embodiments of the disclosure, as illustrated in904 and 905 in FIG. 9 , the electronic device 101 (e.g., at least oneprocessor 120) may identify that a predetermined condition is satisfied(e.g., a preset time (Δt) from a specific time point), and may displayan execution screen associated with another mode of the firstapplication (e.g., open mode). A redundant description related to thesatisfaction of specific conditions will be omitted. Meanwhile, a secondpredetermined condition to be satisfied may differ from that of theprevious case. For example, upon switching from the mode correspondingto a predetermined range (e.g., a half-folded mode) back to the originalmode (e.g., an open mode), the preset time (Δt) calculated from aspecific point in time may be shorter. As described above, whenswitching to the original mode, since the execution screen is quicklyreturned to the execution screen corresponding to the original mode,which was originally provided to the user, the convenience with whichthe user uses the application execution screen can be improved. Inaddition, an operational burden for measuring the preset time Δt of theelectronic device 101 can be reduced.

Hereinafter, other operations of the electronic device 101 according tovarious embodiments will be described.

According to various embodiments of the disclosure, when the anglebetween the housings falls within a predetermined range, the electronicdevice 101 may identify a designated application among currently runningapplications, and may control the identified designated application tochange the execution screen to an execution screen corresponding to thepredetermined range.

FIG. 11 is a flowchart 1100 illustrating operations of an electronicdevice 101 according to an embodiment of the disclosure. According tovarious embodiments of the disclosure, the operations illustrated inFIG. 11 are not limited to the illustrated order, and may be performedin various orders. In addition, according to various embodiments of thedisclosure, a greater or smaller number of operations than theoperations illustrated in FIG. 11 may be performed. Hereinafter, theoperations of FIG. 11 will be described with reference to FIGS. 12 and13 .

FIG. 12 is a view illustrating operations of the electronic device 101according to an embodiment of the disclosure. FIG. 13 is a viewillustrating operations performed when an application that has beenrunning in a background mode of the electronic device 101 is executed ina foreground mode of the electronic device 101 according to anembodiment of the disclosure. The dotted lines shown in FIGS. 12 and 13indicate elements included in execution screens. The execution screensare not limited to those illustrated in FIGS. 12 and 13 , and mayfurther include additional elements, or may include fewer elements.

According to various embodiments of the disclosure, the electronicdevice 101 (e.g., at least one processor 120) may display a firstexecution screen 1211 of a first application in operation 1101. Forexample, as illustrated in 1201 of FIG. 12 , the electronic device 101may execute a first application, and may display a first executionscreen 1211 of the first application. Since operation 1101 of theelectronic device 101 may be performed in the same manner as operation801 of the electronic device 101 described above, a redundantdescription will be omitted.

According to various embodiments of the disclosure, the electronicdevice 101 (e.g., at least one processor 120) may execute a plurality ofapplications in various states (or various process-processing modes).The various states may include a foreground mode and a background mode.When executing an application based on the foreground mode, theelectronic device 101 may display the execution screen of the executedapplication on the display, and when executing the application based onthe background mode, the electronic device 101 may execute theapplication, but may not display the execution screen. For example, asillustrated in 1203 of FIG. 12 , the electronic device 101 may executethe first application in the foreground mode, and may execute second andthird applications in the background mode. Switching between theforeground mode and the background mode may be performed. For example,when the state of an application is switched from the foreground mode tothe background mode, the execution screen of the application may not bedisplayed, and when the state of another application is switched fromthe background mode to the foreground mode, the execution screen of theother application may be displayed.

According to various embodiments of the disclosure, the electronicdevice 101 (e.g., at least one processor 120) may identify the anglebetween the first housing structure 521 and the second housing structure522 in operation 1102, and may identify whether or not the angle fallswithin a predetermined range in operation 1103. For example, asillustrated in 1202 of FIG. 12 , the electronic device 101 may identifythat the angle falls within the second angular range (e.g., 91° to130°), and may identify a second mode 1212 (e.g., a half-folded mode)corresponding to the second angular range among a plurality of modes1001 corresponding to a plurality of angular ranges. Since operations1102 and 1103 of the electronic device 101 may be performed in the samemanner as operations 802 and 803 of the electronic device 101 describedabove, a redundant description thereof will be omitted.

According to various embodiments of the disclosure, in operation 1104,the electronic device 101 (e.g., the at least one processor 120) mayidentify whether or not the first application supports changing of anexecution screen according to a change in angle. For example, theelectronic device 101 may cause the execution screen of an applicationthat supports changing of an execution screen according to a change inangle to be changed, and in the case in which an application does notsupport changing of an execution screen according to a change in angle,the electronic device 101 may cause the currently running screen to bemaintained.

According to various embodiments of the disclosure, the electronicdevice 101 (e.g., at least one processor 120) may identify whether ornot any of a plurality of currently running applications supportschanging of an execution screen according to a change in angle. Forexample, the electronic device 101 may store therein a list includingone or more designated applications that support changing of anexecution screen according to a change in angle. The operations of theelectronic device 101 for storing the list will be described later withreference to FIGS. 15 and 16 . The electronic device 101 may identify atleast one application that supports changing of an execution screenaccording to a change in angle among a plurality of currently runningapplications based on at least one designated application included inthe list.

According to various embodiments of the disclosure, when it isidentified in operation 1105 that the first application supportschanging of an execution screen according to a change in angle, theelectronic device 101 (e.g., at least one processor 120) may display asecond execution screen 1216 associated with the predetermined range ofthe first application in operation 1106 as illustrated in 1203 of FIG.12 . For example, as illustrated in 1203 of FIG. 12 , the electronicdevice 101 may identify applications that support changing of anexecution screen according to a change in angle among the plurality ofcurrently running applications 1213 (e.g., a first application 1214 anda third application 1215), and may control the first application 1214,which is running in the foreground mode among the identifiedapplications, to display the second execution screen 1216 correspondingto the predetermined range.

According to various embodiments of the disclosure, the second executionscreen 1216 may be associated with the first execution screen 1211 and aspecific state of an application. In other words, the first executionscreen 1211 and the second execution screen 1216 may be executionscreens of an application for providing a specific function, but may beexecution screens displayed in different modes. For example, a pluralityof elements included in the first execution screen 1211 may also beincluded in the second execution screen 1216 so as to provide a specificfunction. In other words, the number of elements included in the firstexecution screen 1211 and the number of elements included in the secondexecution screen 1216 may correspond (e.g., equal) to each other, andattributes of the elements included in the first execution screen 1211and attributes of elements included in the second execution screen 1216may correspond to (e.g., equal) each other.

According to various embodiments of the disclosure, the positions atwhich elements included in the second execution screen 1216 aredisplayed on the display and the positions at which elements included inthe first execution screen 1211 are displayed on the display may bedifferent from each other.

According to various embodiments of the disclosure, the display of theelectronic device 101 may include areas corresponding to the housings(e.g., the first housing structure 521 and the second housing structure522) provided in the electronic device 101. For example, the display mayinclude a first area 1221 corresponding to the first housing 521 (e.g.,a display area positioned on the first housing structure 521) and asecond area 1222 corresponding to the second housing structure 522(e.g., a display area positioned on the second housing structure 522).In addition, the display areas of the electronic device 101 may be areasdivided with reference to the area at which the display is bent(folded). In other words, the display may include a first area 1221disposed on one side with reference to the area corresponding to therotation axis 912 of the housings provided in the electronic device 101(e.g., the hinge), and a second area 1222 disposed on the other side.Hereinafter, for convenience of description, the first area 1221 may bedefined as an upper area of the display and the second area 1222 may bedefined as a lower area of the display. For example, when the electronicdevice 101 is grasped or is in contact with a support surface (e.g.,placed on a table), the first housing structure 521 may be positionedrelatively higher than the second housing structure 522. Accordingly,the first area 1221 corresponding to the first housing structure 521 isdefined as an upper area compared to the second area 1222 correspondingto the second housing structure 522, and the second area 1222 may bedefined as a lower area than the first area 1221.

Therefore, according to various embodiments of the disclosure, on thefirst execution screen 1211, a plurality of elements may be positionedand displayed regardless of the above-described a plurality of displayareas (e.g., the first area 1221 and the second area 1222 of thedisplay), and, on the execution screen 1216, the above-described aplurality of elements may be positioned and displayed based on thedisplay areas. For example, on the first execution screen 1211, elementsfor providing a visual view may be positioned to be displayed in thefirst area 1221 and the second area 1222 of the display, but on thesecond execution screen 1216, elements for providing a visual view maybe positioned to be displayed only in the first area 1221 (or the secondarea 1222) of the display. As another example, in the second area 1222included in the second execution screen, elements for providing specificfunctions may be positioned such that the elements are not displayed inthe area between the first area 1221 and the second area 1222 (e.g., thearea at which the display is folded). As another example, on the firstexecution screen 1211, elements for providing specific functions may bepositioned so as to be displayed in the first area 1221 of the display,but on the second execution screen 1216, elements for providing specificfunctions may be positioned so as to be displayed in the second area1222 of the display different from the first area 1221 in which elementsfor providing a visual view are displayed.

According to various embodiments of the disclosure, among the displayareas, the electronic device 101 (e.g., at least one processor 120) maydisplay the second execution screen 1216, which causes at least oneelement for providing a visual view to be positioned in the upper area(e.g., the first area 1221) among the display areas, and which causes atleast one element for providing a function to be positioned in the lowerarea (e.g., the second area 1222).

As described above, when the angle between the housings of theelectronic device 101 falls within the predetermined range, an elementfor providing a visual view on the second execution screen 1216 isdisposed in an area of the display (e.g., the first area 1221), and anelement for providing a function is disposed in another area of thedisplay (e.g., the second area 1222), whereby the convenience with whichthe user uses an application can be improved in the state in which theelectronic device 101 is folded.

According to various embodiments of the disclosure, visual attributes ofa plurality of elements included in the first execution screen 1211 andvisual attributes of a plurality of elements included in the secondexecution screen 1216 may be different from each other. For example, atleast one of the visual attributes (e.g., the size, the shape, or thebrightness) of the first elements included in the first execution screen1211 may be different from at least one of corresponding visualattributes (e.g., the size, the shape, or brightness) of the firstelements included in the second execution screen 1216.

According to various embodiments of the disclosure, as illustrated in1301 of FIG. 13 , the electronic device 101 (e.g., at least oneprocessor 120) may cause the third application 1215, which is running inthe background mode, to change the execution screen to an executionscreen corresponding to the range within which the current angle falls.Accordingly, as illustrated in 1310 of FIG. 13 , when the thirdapplication 1215, which is running in the background mode, is switchedto the foreground mode, the electronic device 101 may control the thirdapplication 1215 to display an execution screen associated with a modecorresponding to the predetermined range (e.g., a half-folded mode), asillustrated in 1302 in FIG. 13 . For example, the electronic device 101may also transmit information on the current mode (e.g., a half-foldedmode) of the electronic device 101 to an application that is running inthe background mode, and when the background mode is switched to theforeground mode, the electronic device 101 may cause the application todisplay an execution screen associated with the mode of the electronicdevice 101 (e.g., a half-folded mode).

As described above, when an application that has been running in thebackground mode is executed in the foreground mode, the electronicdevice 101 may cause the application to be automatically displayed in amode corresponding to the range within which the current angle falls,whereby the convenience with which the user uses the application can beimproved. In addition, since the execution screen corresponding to thecurrent states of the housings is automatically displayed, theoperational burden on the electronic device 101 required by theoperations performed in order to change the execution screen can bereduced.

Hereinafter, operations of an electronic device 101, an external device1410, and a developer server 1420 according to various embodiments willbe described.

According to various embodiments of the disclosure, an electronic device101 may receive an application and information on the application froman external device 1410 (e.g., an application distribution server), andmay store a list of applications that support changing of an executionscreen according to a change in angle based on the received information.

FIG. 14 is a flowchart 1400 illustrating operations of an electronicdevice 101, an external device 1410, and a developer server 1420according to an embodiment of the disclosure. According to variousembodiments of the disclosure, the operations illustrated in FIG. 14 arenot limited to the illustrated order, and may be performed in variousorders. In addition, according to various embodiments of the disclosure,a greater or smaller number of operations than the operationsillustrated in FIG. 14 may be performed. Hereinafter, the operations ofFIG. 14 will be described with reference to FIGS. 15 and 16 .

FIG. 15 is a view illustrating operations of an electronic device 101,an external device 1410, and developer servers 1420 according to anembodiment of the disclosure.

FIG. 16 is a view illustrating an execution screen and/or a UI/UXincluded in an application for each state according to an embodiment ofthe disclosure.

According to various embodiments of the disclosure, an applicationdistribution environment may include an electronic device 101, anexternal device 1410, and developer servers 1420, as illustrated in FIG.15 . The operation of each device will be described later.

According to various embodiments of the disclosure, the developerservers 1420 may transmit an application and application-relatedinformation to the external device 1410 (e.g., an applicationdistribution server) in operation 1401. For example, the developerservers 1420 may produce an application, and may request the externaldevice 1410 to register the produced application along with informationon the produced application 1410.

According to various embodiments of the disclosure, the developerservers 1420 may be third parties that produce an application andprovide the produced application as illustrated in FIG. 15 .

According to various embodiments of the disclosure, an applicationproduced by each developer server 1420 may be implemented to provideexecution screens or UIs/UXs associated with various modes forrespective specific states. For example, as illustrated in FIG. 16 , anapplication (e.g., a first application 1601) served by each developerserver 1420 may be provided so as to display various execution screensand/or UIs/UXs (e.g., 1604, 1605, 1606) associated with the rotatingstate of the electronic device 101 or the states of the housings of theelectronic device 101 (e.g., an angle between the housings) in aspecific state (e.g., a first state 1603) among a plurality of states1602.

According to various embodiments of the disclosure, the application maybe implemented to provide a plurality of execution screens and/orUIs/UXs associated with rotating states of the electronic device 101associated with a specific state.

For example, in a specific state, an application may provide anexecution screen corresponding to a vertical mode, as illustrated in1604 of FIG. 16 , or an execution screen corresponding to a horizontalmode, as illustrated in 1605 of FIG. 16 .

In addition, for example, the application may be implemented to providevarious execution screens and/or UIs/UXs based on an angle between thehousings of the electronic device 101 in a specific state. For example,the application may be implemented to display the screens of theapplication illustrated in 1604 and 1605 of FIG. 16 in a first mode(e.g., an open mode) corresponding to a first angular range (e.g., 150°to 180°), and may be implemented to display the screen of theapplication illustrated in 1606 of FIG. 16 in a second mode (e.g., ahalf-folded mode) corresponding to a second angular range (e.g., 91° to)120°. The difference between the execution screen displayed in the firstmode (e.g., an open mode) and the execution screen corresponding to thesecond mode (e.g., a half-folded mode) is the same as the differencebetween the first execution screen and the second execution screendescribed above. Therefore, a redundant description will be omitted.

In addition, for example, the application may be implemented to providevarious execution screens and/or UIs/UXs based on the rotating state ofthe electronic device 101 and the angle between the housings of theelectronic device 101 in a specific state. For example, when theelectronic device 101 is in the horizontal mode and the angular range isthe first range, the first execution screen may be provided, or when theelectronic device 101 is in the horizontal mode and the angular range isthe second range different from the first range, the second executionscreen may be provided.

According to various embodiments of the disclosure, the application maybe implemented to provide coordinate information of various elements forrespective execution screens associated with a specific state. Forexample, the application may provide information indicating that theposition of an element included in the first execution screen displayedbased on the first mode (e.g., a vertical mode) of a specific state isset as first coordinates, and that the position of an element includedin the second execution mode displayed based on the second mode (e.g., ahalf-folded mode) is set as second coordinates. The electronic device101 may cause the elements to move when an event for changing theexecution screen occurs based on coordinate information of each elementprovided by the application. This will be described with reference toFIGS. 22 to 24 .

According to various embodiments of the disclosure, theapplication-related information may include various kinds of informationrelated to a specific application. For example, the application-relatedinformation may include information indicating whether a specificapplication supports changing of an execution screen according to achange in angle. The application-related information may be implementedseparately from an application, may be implemented to be included inpackage information in which an application is included, or may beimplemented to be included in data constituting an application.

According to various embodiments of the disclosure, the external device1410 may store an application and application information in operation1402, and may transmit the application list information stored inoperation 1403 to the electronic device 101. For example, the externaldevice 1410 may provide, as an application distribution device, anapplication and application-related information, which are acquired froma developer server 1420, to the electronic device 101.

According to various embodiments of the disclosure, the external device1410 may receive a request for registration of an application andapplication information received from a developer server 1420, and maystore the application and application information in association witheach other in response to the received request.

According to various embodiments of the disclosure, the external device1410 may store designated application list information 1501 based on thereceived application information. For example, based on the receivedapplication information, the external device 1410 may identify whetheror not the application information indicates whether or not changing ofan execution screen according to a change in angle is supported for eachapplication, and may identify list information 1501 indicating whetheror not changing of an execution screen is supported for eachapplication. The list information 1501 may include information foridentifying at least one application that supports changing of anexecution screen.

According to various embodiments of the disclosure, the external device1410 may provide at least one piece of designated application listinformation 1501 to the electronic device 101 at various points in time.For example, when the electronic device 101 requests and receives anapplication from the external device 1410 (e.g., when downloading anapplication), the external device 1410 may provide the list information1501 to the electronic device 101. In addition, for example, when a newapplication that supports changing of an execution screen is registeredin the list information 1501, the external device 1410 may provide thelist information 1501 to the electronic device 101 so that theapplication included in the list information 1501 can be updated. Inaddition, for example, the external device 1410 may provide the listinformation 1501 to the electronic device 101 at a predetermined period.

According to various embodiments of the disclosure, the external device1410 is not limited to the operation of providing the list information1501 to the electronic device 101, and may provide application-relatedinformation, which is provided from a developer server 1420, to theelectronic device 101. In other words, in addition to receiving the listinformation 1501 indicating at least one application that supportschanging of an execution screen from the developer server 1420, theelectronic device 101 may receive application-related information andmay itself identify whether the application supports changing of anexecution screen based on the received application-related information.

According to various embodiments of the disclosure, the electronicdevice 101 may store the application list information 1501 received inoperation 1404. For example, as illustrated in FIG. 15 , the electronicdevice 101 may receive the application list information 1501 from theexternal device 1410, and may store the same.

According to various embodiments of the disclosure, the electronicdevice 101 may execute a plurality of applications in operation 1405,and may identify designated applications included in the listinformation 1501 among the plurality of applications in operation 1406.For example, the electronic device 101 may execute a plurality ofapplications in different modes (e.g., a foreground mode or a backgroundmode), and may identify one or more applications that support changingof an execution screen (e.g., the first application and the thirdapplication) among the plurality of currently running applications basedon the stored list information 1501.

Hereinafter, still other operations of the electronic device 101according to various embodiments will be described.

According to various embodiments of the disclosure, the electronicdevice 101 may perform control such that an application designated amonga plurality of changes an execution screen.

FIG. 17 is a flowchart 1700 illustrating operations of an electronicdevice 101 according to an embodiment of the disclosure. According tovarious embodiments of the disclosure, the operations illustrated inFIG. 17 are not limited to the illustrated order, and may be performedin various orders. In addition, according to various embodiments of thedisclosure, a greater or smaller number of operations than theoperations illustrated in FIG. 17 may be performed. Hereinafter, theoperations of FIG. 17 will be described with reference to FIGS. 18 to 20.

FIG. 18 is a view illustrating operations of detecting rotation of ahousing of an electronic device 101 according to an embodiment of thedisclosure. The dotted lines shown in FIG. 18 indicate elements includedin execution screens. The execution screens are not limited to thoseillustrated in FIG. 18 , and may further include additional elements, ormay include fewer elements. FIG. 19 is a block diagram illustratingoperations of an electronic device 101 according to an embodiment of thedisclosure. FIG. 20 is a view for illustrating operations of a layoutmanagement module for further describing operations of an electronicdevice 101 according to an embodiment of the disclosure. According tovarious embodiments of the disclosure, the electronic device is notlimited to those shown in FIGS. 19 to 20 , and may be implemented toinclude a greater or smaller number of components than the componentsillustrated in FIGS. 19 to 20 .

According to various embodiments of the disclosure, the electronicdevice 101 (e.g., at least one processor 120) may detect a change in thestate of a hinge (e.g., the hinge structure 460 in FIG. 4A or the hingestructure 540 in FIG. 5 ) in operation 1701. For example, as illustratedin 1801 of FIG. 18 , the electronic device 101 may detect, using amagnetic sensor (e.g., a Hall sensor), that portions (e.g., 1811, 1812)of a hinge (e.g., the hinge structure 460 in FIG. 4A or the hingestructure 540 in FIG. 5 ) are changed due to the rotation of at leastone of the housing structures (e.g., 521, 522) from the state in whichthe angle between the portions (e.g., the housing structures (e.g., 521,522) connected to the portions (e.g., 1811, 1812) of the hinge (e.g.,the hinge structure 460 in FIG. 4A or the hinge structure 540 in FIG. 5) is a predetermined angle (e.g., 0°), as illustrated in 1801 in FIG. 18.

According to various embodiments of the disclosure, the electronicdevice 101 (e.g., at least one processor 120) may detect whether or notthe change in the state of the hinge (e.g., the hinge structure 460 inFIG. 4A or the hinge structure 540 in FIG. 5 ) is stopped in operation1702, and may identify whether or not the range including the currentangle has changed to be different from the range including the previousangle in operation 1703. For example, after the change in the state ofthe hinge (e.g., the hinge structure 460 in FIG. 4A or the hingestructure 540 in FIG. 5 ) is detected, the electronic device 101 mayidentify, using an acceleration or gyro sensor, how much the anglebetween the portions (e.g., the housing structures (e.g., 521, 522)connected to the portions (e.g., 1811, 1812) of the hinge (e.g., thehinge structure 460 in FIG. 4A or the hinge structure 540 in FIG. 5 ))is changed, as illustrated in 1802 and 1803 of FIG. 18 . When the changein the angle between the portions (e.g., 1811, 1812) of the hinge (e.g.,the hinge structure 460 in FIG. 4A or the hinge structure 540 in FIG. 5) is stopped, as illustrated in 1803 and 1804 of FIG. 18 , theelectronic device 101 may identify the range within which the anglebetween the portions (e.g., 1811, 1812) of the hinge (e.g., the hingestructure 460 in FIG. 4A or the hinge structure 540 in FIG. 5 ) falls.The electronic device 101 may compare the range including the currentangle between the portions (e.g., 1811, 1812) of the hinge (e.g., thehinge structure 460 in FIG. 4A or the hinge structure 540 in FIG. 5 )(e.g., 91° to 130°) with the range including the previous angle betweenthe portions (e.g., 1811, 1812) of the hinge (e.g., the hinge structure460 in FIG. 4A or the hinge structure 540 in FIG. 5 ) (e.g., 21° to90°), and may perform operation 1704 when the range is changed.

According to various embodiments of the disclosure, the electronicdevice 101 (e.g., at least one processor 120) may determine the modecorresponding to the range within which the current angle falls inoperation 1704. For example, when the change in the state of the hinge(the hinge structure 460 in FIG. 4A or the hinge structure 540 in FIG. 5) is stopped (e.g., the change in the angle between the housingstructures (e.g., 521, 522 is stopped), the electronic device 101 mayidentify the mode corresponding to the identified range, as illustratedin 1804 of FIG. 18 .

According to various embodiments of the disclosure, the electronicdevice 101 (e.g., at least one processor 120) may change the executionscreen after the change in the state of the hinge is stopped and apreset time elapses. For example, the electronic device 101 may changethe first execution screen 1813, which is being displayed, asillustrated in 1803 of FIG. 18 to the second execution screen 1814 asillustrated in 1804 of FIG. 18 after the change in the state of thehinge is stopped and a preset time elapses.

According to various embodiments of the disclosure, the electronicdevice 101 (e.g., at least one processor 120) may identify, in operation1705, a designated application, and may perform, in operation 1706,control such that the execution screen of the application designatedfrom among a plurality of applications, which are running in theelectronic device 101, is changed to an execution screen correspondingto an acquired mode.

Hereinafter, an operation of the electronic device 101 for performingcontrol such that an execution screen of an application is changed willbe described with reference to FIGS. 19 and 20 .

Hereinafter, components for changing an execution screen of anapplication of the electronic device 101 will be described withreference to FIG. 19 .

According to various embodiments of the disclosure, the electronicdevice 101 may include a hardware layer including a sensor module 1901and a display 1902, a kernel layer including a sensor driver 1903 and aDDI controller 1904, a library layer (HAL) including an event hub 1905and a surface flinger 1906, a framework including a sensor manager 1907,a window manager 1908, a view system 1910, an activity manager 1911, astate control manager 1909, and an application layer includingapplications 1912. Here, in the memory, the kernel layer, the librarylayer, the framework layer, and the application layer may be stored inthe form of instructions, and, when executed, may cause the processor toperform an operation of a corresponding component.

Hereinafter, a hardware layer (HW) and a kernel layer (Kernel) will bedescribed.

According to various embodiments of the disclosure, the sensor module1901 may detect various states of the electronic device 101. A redundantdescription related to the sensor module 1901 will be omitted. Accordingto various embodiments of the disclosure, the sensor driver 1903 maycause the sensor module 1901 to be driven.

According to various embodiments of the disclosure, the display 1902 mayinclude an execution screen of an application. A redundant descriptionrelated to the display 1902 will be omitted. According to variousembodiments of the disclosure, the display controller (DDI controller)1904 may correspond to a display drive circuit DDI.

The description is not limited to the above, and the hardware layer (HW)and the kernel layer (Kernel) may be implemented in the same manner aswell-known technology, and thus other redundant descriptions will beomitted.

Hereinafter, the library layer (HAL) will be described.

According to various embodiments of the disclosure, the event hub 1905may allow collected events and data to be processed. For example, theevent hub 1905 may deliver a service corresponding to the events anddata collected from the sensor module 1901 to the framework layer suchthat a service corresponding thereto can be provided.

According to various embodiments of the disclosure, the surface flinger1906 may synthesize a plurality of layers. The surface flinger 1906 mayprovide data representing the plurality of synthesized layers to adisplay controller 1904.

Since the library layer (HAL) is not limited to the above descriptionand may be implemented in the same manner as well-known technology,other redundant descriptions will be omitted.

Hereinafter, the framework layer will be described.

According to various embodiments of the disclosure, the sensor manager1907 may manage events and data acquired using the sensor module 1901.

According to various embodiments of the disclosure, the window manager1908 may perform operations such that an execution screen of anapplication is changed according to a change in angle.

For example, the window manager 1908 may manage at least one designatedapplication (or manage a list) that supports changing of an executionscreen. The window manager may identify at least one application thatsupports changing of an execution screen among a plurality ofapplications, which are currently running, based on the list, and maycontrol the at least one application to change the execution screen. Forexample, the window manager 1908 may deliver an unfolding/folding eventto the at least one application that supports changing of an executionscreen. The at least one application may provide an execution screencorresponding to the acquired unfolding/folding event, and the graphiccomposer 669 may provide data based on the received execution screen tothe display driver. The wording “the window manager 1908 or anothermanager controls an application” may include the meaning thatinformation on an event acquired by the window manager 1908 or anothermanager is provided to an application.

For example, the window manager 1908 (e.g., a state control manager1909) may identify whether or not the state of the electronic device 101is changed (e.g., changed from the open mode to the half-folded mode)based on the data acquired through the sensor module 1901. In otherwords, the state control manager 1909 may manage the current state ofthe electronic device 101.

In addition, for example, when a change in the state of the electronicdevice 101 (e.g., the change from the open mode to the half-folded mode)is identified through the sensor module 1901, the window manager 1908may deliver information corresponding to the changed state to theapplication. For example, when the change in the state of the electronicdevice 101 is identified, the window manager 1908 may deliverinformation on a display area corresponding to the changed state of theelectronic device 101 a designated application that supports changing ofan execution screen among applications 1912, which are running.

According to various embodiments of the disclosure, the view system 1910may be a program for drawing at least one layer based on the resolutionof the display 1902. In an embodiment of the disclosure, an applicationmay draw at least one layer based on the resolution of a second displayarea of the display 1902 using the view system 1910. The view may managevarious execution screens displayed by an application and graphicelements included in the execution screens.

According to various embodiments of the disclosure, the activity manager1911 may acquire and manage various kinds of information related to thestate of execution of an application (e.g., a foreground mode or abackground mode).

Since the framework may be implemented in the same manner as well-knowntechnology without being limited to the above description, otherredundant descriptions will be omitted.

Hereinafter, with reference to FIG. 20 , a window manager 1908 (e.g., astate control manager 1909) and changing of an application (e.g., alayout management module 2004 or 2005) of the electronic device 101 willbe described. The modules may be stored in the form of instructionprogram codes or application codes for executing a correspondingfunction in memory, a program, or an application as a functional unit,and may control, when executed, the processor 230 to perform anoperation related to the corresponding module.

According to various embodiments of the disclosure, as illustrated inFIG. 20 , the processor 230 of the electronic device 101 may include awindow manager 1908 including a state control manager 1909 for changingan execution screen of a designated application.

According to various embodiments of the disclosure, when a change in thestate of the hinge (e.g., the hinge structure 460 in FIG. 4A or thehinge structure 540 in FIG. 5 ) is detected, the window manager 1908(e.g., the state control manager 1909) may perform control such that anapplication changes an execution screen according to the angle betweenthe portions (e.g., 1811, 1812) of the hinge (e.g., the hinge structure460 in FIG. 4A or the hinge structure 540 in FIG. 5 ). For example, thestate control manager 1909 may detect the change in the state of thehinge (e.g., the hinge structure 460 in FIG. 4A or the hinge structure540 in FIG. 5 ) using a magnetic sensor (e.g., a Hall sensor), mayidentify the angle between the portions (e.g., 1811, 1812) of the hinge(e.g., the hinge structure 460 in FIG. 4A or the hinge structure 540 inFIG. 5 ) using at least one sensor (e.g., an acceleration/gyro sensor),and may identify whether the identified angle falls within apredetermined range. The window manager 1908 (e.g., the state controlmanager 1909) may identify a mode corresponding to the identified range.The window manager 1908 (e.g., the state control manager 1909) maydeliver information on the identified mode to one or more designatedapplications 2001 and 2003 registered in a stored list, among aplurality of applications 2001, 2002, and 2003, which are currentlyrunning.

According to various embodiments of the disclosure, at least onedesignated application may perform an operation of changing an executionscreen. For example, referring to FIG. 20 , the one or more applications2001 and 2003 supporting changing of an execution screen may includerespective layout management modules 2004 and 2005 for changing of anexecution screen.

For example, the first application 2001 (e.g., the layout managementmodule 2004), which is running in the foreground mode, may replace thecurrently displayed execution screen or may maintain the currentlydisplayed execution screen according to the received mode. For example,as illustrated in FIG. 20 , the first application 2001, which is runningin the foreground mode, may identify the received mode (operation 2011),and when the identified mode is a designated first mode (e.g., thehalf-folded mode) (operation 2012), the first application 2001 mayidentify the second execution screen corresponding to the first mode atthe currently running state, and may cause the second execution screento be displayed (operation 2013). When the identified mode is the sameas the previously identified mode, the first application 2001 may causethe currently displayed execution screen to be maintained (operation2014).

For example, as illustrated in FIG. 20 , the third application 2003(e.g., the layout management module 2005), which is running in thebackground mode, may identify the received mode (e.g., the half-foldedmode) (operation 2021), and when the newly identified mode is differentfrom the previous mode when switching to the foreground mode (operation2022) (the determination result in operation 2023), the thirdapplication 2003 may cause an execution screen corresponding to thenewly identified mode (e.g., the half-molded mode) to be displayed(operation 2024). When the newly identified mode is the same as theprevious mode (the determination result in operation 2023) when thethird application 2003, which is running in the background mode, isswitched to the foreground, an execution screen corresponding to thepreviously identified mode may be displayed (operation 2025).

Without being limited to the above description, the layout managementmodules 2004 and 2005 included in the applications may further performoperations, such as a display attribute analysis operation and a displayburn-in suppression determination operation.

Hereinafter, still other operations of the electronic device 101 will bedescribed.

According to various embodiments of the disclosure, when an anglebetween housings (e.g., a folding angle) falls within a predeterminedrange, the electronic device 101 reconstructs an element of thecurrently displayed execution screen based on a mode corresponding tothe predetermined range.

FIG. 21 is a flowchart 2100 illustrating operations of reconfiguringelements included in an execution screen of an application of anelectronic device 101 according to an embodiment of the disclosure.According to various embodiments of the disclosure, the operationsillustrated in FIG. 21 are not limited to the illustrated order, and maybe performed in various orders. In addition, according to variousembodiments of the disclosure, a greater or smaller number of operationsthan the operations illustrated in FIG. 21 may be performed.Hereinafter, the operations of FIG. 21 will be described with referenceto FIGS. 22 to 24 .

FIG. 22 is a view illustrating operations of reconfiguring elementsincluded in an execution screen of an application of an electronicdevice 101 according to an embodiment of the disclosure. FIG. 23 is aview illustrating operations of reconfiguring elements included in anexecution screen of an application of an electronic device 101 accordingto an embodiment of the disclosure. The dotted lines shown in FIGS. 22and 23 indicate elements included in execution screens. The executionscreens are not limited to those illustrated in FIGS. 22 and 23 , andmay further include additional elements, or may include fewer elements.FIG. 24 is a view illustrating operations of reconfiguring elementsincluded in an execution screen according to an embodiment of thedisclosure.

FIG. 25 is a view illustrating reconfigured elements according to anembodiment of the disclosure.

According to various embodiments of the disclosure, the electronicdevice 101 (e.g., at least one processor 120) may display a firstexecution screen of a first application in operation 2101. For example,as illustrated in 2201 of FIG. 22 and 2301 of FIG. 23 , the electronicdevice 101 may display the first execution screen 2211 of the firstapplication including various elements on the first area 1221 and thesecond area 1222 of the display. As an example, as illustrated in 2401of FIG. 24 , the first execution screen of the first application mayinclude first to seventh elements E1 to E7. Since operation 2101 of theelectronic device 101 may be performed in the same manner as operations801 and 1101 of the electronic device 101 described above, a redundantdescription will be omitted.

According to various embodiments of the disclosure, each of variouselements included in the first execution screen may have at least oneattribute. Since the attributes of the elements are the same as thosedescribed above, a redundant description will be omitted.

According to various embodiments of the disclosure, the areas of thedisplay of the electronic device 101 may include areas corresponding tothe housings. For example, when the electronic device 101 includes afirst housing 521 and a second housing 522, the display may include afirst area 1221 corresponding to the first housing structure 521 and asecond area 1222 corresponding to the second housing 522. A redundantdescription of the areas of the display will be omitted.

According to various embodiments of the disclosure, the electronicdevice 101 (e.g., at least one processor 120) may identify the anglebetween the first housing structure 521 and the second housing structure522 in operation 2102, and may identify whether or not the angle fallswithin a predetermined range in operation 2103. For example, theelectronic device 101 may identify the angle between the portions of thehinge connected to the housings or the angle between the housings, mayidentify the range within which the identified angle falls, and mayidentify whether or not the mode is a designated mode corresponding tothe identified range. Here, the designated mode may be a half-foldedmode. Since operations 2102 and 2103 of the electronic device 101 may beperformed in the same manner as operations 802 and 803 of the electronicdevice 101 and operations 1102 and 1103 of the electronic device 101, aredundant description will be omitted.

According to various embodiments of the disclosure, in operation 2104,the electronic device 101 (e.g., at least one processor 120) mayidentify an attribute of each of a plurality of elements included in thefirst execution screen. For example, as illustrated in 2401 of FIG. 24 ,the electronic device 101 may identify attributes (e.g., first to fifthattributes) as illustrated in FIG. 25 for each of a plurality ofelements (e.g., E1 to E7) included in the first execution screen.

According to various embodiments of the disclosure, in operation 2105,the electronic device 101 (e.g., at least one processor 120) maydisplay, in the first area 1221, a first element having a firstattribute, among the plurality of elements included in the firstexecution screen, and may display, in the second area 1222, a secondelement having a second attribute. For example, as illustrated in 2202of FIG. 22 and 2302 of FIG. 23 , the electronic device 101 may move atleast some of the elements included in the first execution screen 2211to a specific area of the display of the electronic device 101, and maydisplay a second execution screen including a plurality of reconfiguredelements.

According to various embodiments of the disclosure, a criterion forreconfiguring the elements for each mode corresponding to an angularrange of the electronic device 101 may be set. In other words, theelectronic device 101 may set a first criterion for reconfiguring theelements in a first mode (e.g., an open mode), and a second criterionfor reconfiguring the elements in a second mode (e.g., a half-foldedmode). Accordingly, when the current angle falls within a predeterminedrange, the electronic device 101 may detect the mode change, and mayreconfigure the elements based on a criterion corresponding to thedetected mode. Hereinafter, for convenience of description, the case inwhich the mode of the electronic device 101 is changed from a specificmode (e.g., an open mode) to a half-folded mode will be described as anexample. Accordingly, the following description is not limiting, and isapplicable mutatis mutandis to the case in which the mode of theelectronic device 101 is changed from one mode (e.g., a half-foldedmode) to another mode (e.g., an open mode).

According to various embodiments of the disclosure, reconfiguration of aplurality of elements included in the first execution screen of theelectronic device 101 may include various visual reconstruction. Forexample, the reconfiguration of the elements may include changingvarious visual characteristics including position shift of the elements,shapes, resolutions, colors of the elements, and the like.

According to various embodiments of the disclosure, when the currentangle falls within a predetermined range (e.g., 91° to 130°), theelectronic device 101 (e.g., at least one processor 120) may move atleast some of the plurality of elements based on attributes of each ofthe plurality of elements included in the first execution screen and atleast one attribute of an element allocated for each display area. Forexample, the electronic device 101 may identify elements (e.g., 2212)having attributes corresponding to attributes allocated to each of theidentified areas, and may move the identified elements to each area. Forexample, as illustrated in 2202 of FIG. 22 , the electronic device 101may identify attributes of elements, which are displayable forrespective areas of the display (e.g., elements having a first attributeand a second attribute being displayable in the first area 1221 andelements having a third attribute and a fourth attribute beingdisplayable in the second area 1222) (2212). Accordingly, for example,as illustrated in FIG. 24 , the electronic device 101 may move theelements having the third attribute to the second area 1222.

For example, when moving the elements, the electronic device 101 (e.g.,at least one processor 120) may move the elements based on coordinateinformation of the element. For example, the electronic device 101 mayobtain coordinate information of each area of the display and coordinateinformation of the elements from an application, and may control thecoordinates of the elements to be positioned at the coordinates of thearea at which the elements are to be displayed. As another example, whenmoving the elements, the electronic device 101 may control the elements,which are moved and displayed, based on coordinate information of theelements and size information of each of the elements such that theelements do not overlap each other while being displayed. When movingthe elements and arranging the elements in each area, the electronicdevice 101 may control the arrangement state according to the attributesof the elements, which will be described later.

According to various embodiments of the disclosure, the electronicdevice 101 (e.g., at least one processor 120) may change the visualcharacteristics of at least some of the plurality of elements E1 to E7,as illustrated in FIG. 24 . The visual characteristics may include thesizes, colors, resolutions, contrasts, and ratios of the elements.

For example, the electronic device 101 (e.g., at least one processor120) may change the visual attributes of at least some of the pluralityof elements based on the area in which the at least some of theplurality of elements are to be displayed by being moved. For example,when displaying an execution screen of a specific application (e.g., acamera application), the electronic device 101 may move the currentlydisplayed first element (e.g., a preview screen) to the first area 1221.The electronic device 101 may adjust the size of the first element sothat the size of the first element corresponds to the size of the firstarea 1221 in which the first element is to be displayed (e.g., adjustingthe length of each of the length and width of the preview screen and theratio of the width and height).

In addition, for example, the electronic device 101 (e.g., at least oneprocessor 120) may change the visual characteristics of the plurality ofelements based on the attributes of each of the plurality of elementsincluded in the first execution screen. For example, in the case of anelement (e.g., multimedia content, such as a preview image) having anattribute (e.g., a name attribute) classified as an element providing avisual view, the electronic device 101 may change the visualcharacteristics to improve the visibility of the element, such asincreasing the size of the element or increasing the resolution thereof.As another example, in the case of an element having an attribute (e.g.,a name attribute) classified as an element providing a specificfunction, the electronic device 101 may change the visualcharacteristics such that the convenience of providing a correspondingfunction can be improved (e.g., in the case of an icon, the shape may bechanged so as to facilitate selection). Alternatively, without beinglimited to the above description, the visual characteristics of some ofthe plurality of elements may be changed when execution screens arerandomly changed.

According to various embodiments of the disclosure, when an element hasa plurality of attributes, the electronic device 101 (e.g., at least oneprocessor 120) may perform the above-described reconfiguration operationbased on the plurality of attributes.

For example, the electronic device 101 (e.g., at least one processor120) may perform the reconfiguration operation based on an attributedetermined to have a high priority, among the plurality of attributes ofthe element. For example, when an element has a first attribute and athird attribute, the electronic device 101 may identify the firstattribute having a high priority among the first attribute and the thirdattribute, and may reconfigure the element based on the first attribute.In this case, the priority of each attribute may be determined based ona specific attribute. For example, among the attributes, an attributefor providing a visual view may be determined to be the attribute havingthe highest priority. In other words, elements having a plurality ofattributes but having attributes classified as providing a visual viewmay be controlled to move to a preferentially allocated area (e.g., thefirst area 1221). In addition, for example, an attribute classified asproviding a specific function among the attributes may be determined tobe the attribute having the highest priority. In other words, elementshaving a plurality of attributes but having attributes for providing aspecific function may be controlled to move to a preferentiallyallocated area (e.g., the second area 1222).

In addition, for example, the electronic device 101 (e.g., at least oneprocessor 120) may perform a reconfiguration operation of an elementbased on one or more attributes, the number of which is the greatestamong the plurality of attributes of the element. In this case, theelectronic device 101 may identify attributes within a preset similarityrange among the plurality of attributes, and may identify the number ofattributes in the similarity range.

According to various embodiments of the disclosure, the electronicdevice 101 (e.g., at least one processor 120) may group and displayelements having properties corresponding to each other, as illustratedin FIG. 25 . For example, the electronic device 101 may display a thirdelement E3 and a fourth element E4 having a third attribute as a firstgroup, and may display a fifth element E5, a sixth element E6, and aseventh element E7 having a fourth attribute as a second group. Theelements displayed as the groups may be displayed at positionsassociated with each other (e.g., in the same column or in the samerow), or may be displayed based on visual characteristics associatedwith each other (e.g., shapes or colors corresponding to each other).

According to various embodiments of the disclosure, the electronicdevice 101 (e.g., at least one processor 120) may gradually perform theoperation of reconfiguring a plurality of elements. For example, whenreconfiguring at least some of a plurality of elements E1 to E7 includedin the first execution screen (e.g., position shift or visual attributechange) as illustrated in 2402 and 2403 of FIG. 24 , the electronicdevice 101 may gradually shift the positions of the elements or maygradually change the visual characteristics (e.g., shapes or colors) ofthe elements.

The electronic device 101 (e.g., at least one processor 120) may performan operation of gradually changing the elements for various periods. Asan example, when the reconfiguration of the elements is performed fromthe point in time at which the angle between two housings does notchange, at least some of the plurality of elements may be graduallyreconstructed from the point in time at which there is no change in theangle for a preset time. As another example, when the reconfiguration ofthe elements is performed from the point in time at which the change inthe angle between two housings is detected (or the point in time atwhich a change in the state of the hinge is detected), at least some ofthe plurality of elements may be reconfigured until the change of theangle is stopped from the point in time at which the angle is changedbased on the range within which the angle at the point in time at whichthe change of the angle is stopped falls.

In addition, when performing the operation of reconfiguring a pluralityof elements, the electronic device 101 (e.g., at least one processor120) may provide various effects. A redundant description of theprovision of the various effects will be omitted.

According to various embodiments of the disclosure, elements providing aspecific function may be implemented to provide the same function beforeand after movement. For example, when receiving input for an element2214 for call reception on a call reception screen 2213 in which theelements have been reconfigured, as illustrated in 2203 of FIG. 22 , theelectronic device 101 may perform an operation of displaying the callreception screen, as illustrated in 2204 of FIG. 22 . In addition, forexample, when displaying a lock screen in which elements have beenreconfigured, as illustrated in 2303 of FIG. 23 , the electronic device101 may receive selection of an element for providing a specificfunction (e.g., a message preparation function) displayed on the lockscreen, and may execute an operation associated with the specificfunction (e.g., unlocking the lock screen and executing an applicationfor writing a message), as illustrated in 2304 and 2305 of FIG. 23 . Atthis time, when the operation associated with the specific function isto execute a predetermined application in the foreground mode, thepredetermined application executed in the foreground mode may display anexecution screen corresponding to the current state of the housings ofthe electronic device 101 (e.g., the angle between the housings).

Hereinafter, still other operations of the electronic device 101according to various embodiments will be described.

According to various embodiments of the disclosure, the electronicdevice 101 may display an icon for changing an execution screendepending on whether or not a portion of the electronic device 101(e.g., at least one of the first housing and the second housing) is incontact with the support surface. In other words, when the electronicdevice 101 is gripped by the user, the electronic device 101 may displayan icon for displaying an execution screen corresponding to a rangewithin which the changed angle falls.

FIG. 26 is a flowchart 2600 illustrating operations of an electronicdevice 101 according to an embodiment of the disclosure. According tovarious embodiments of the disclosure, the operations illustrated inFIG. 26 are not limited to the illustrated order, and may be performedin various orders. In addition, according to various embodiments of thedisclosure, a greater or smaller number of operations than theoperations illustrated in FIG. 26 may be performed. Hereinafter, theoperations of FIG. 26 will be described with reference to FIG. 27 .

FIG. 27 is a view illustrating operations of an electronic device 101according to an embodiment of the disclosure.

Referring to FIG. 27 , the dotted lines may indicate elements includedin execution screens. The execution screens are not limited to thoseillustrated in FIG. 27 , and may further include additional elements, ormay include fewer elements.

According to various embodiments of the disclosure, the electronicdevice 101 (e.g., at least one processor 120) may display a firstexecution screen of a first application in operation 2601. For example,as illustrated in 2701 of FIG. 27 , the electronic device 101 mayexecute a first application, and may display an execution screenincluding a plurality of elements of the first application. Sinceoperation 2601 of the electronic device 101 may be performed in the samemanner as operations 801 and 1101 of the electronic device 101 describedabove, a redundant description will be omitted.

According to various embodiments of the disclosure, the electronicdevice 101 (e.g., at least one processor 120) may identify the anglebetween the first housing and the second housing in operation 2602, andmay identify whether or not the angle falls within a predetermined rangein operation 2603. For example, the electronic device 101 may identifythat the angle between the housing structures (e.g., 521, 522) ischanged as illustrated in 2701 of FIG. 27 , and when the angle fallswithin a predetermined range, the electronic device 101 may identify themode of the electronic device 101 corresponding to the predeterminedrange. Since operations 2602 and 2603 of the electronic device 101 maybe performed in the same manner as operations 802 and 803 of theelectronic device 101 and operations 1102 and 1103 of the electronicdevice 101 described above, a redundant description will be omitted.

According to various embodiments of the disclosure, the electronicdevice 101 (e.g., at least one processor 120) may identify whether ornot one surface of the first housing or one surface of the secondhousing is in contact with a support surface in operation 2604. Forexample, when the electronic device 101 is gripped by the user's hand asillustrated in 2702 of FIG. 27 , the electronic device 101 may identifythat one surface of the housings of the electronic device 101 is not incontact with a support surface.

According to various embodiments of the disclosure, the electronicdevice 101 (e.g., at least one processor 120) may identify whether ornot one surface of the first housing or one surface of the secondhousing is in contact with a support surface (e.g., any of surfaces ofvarious objects) in operation 2604 using various kinds of sensormodules. For example, the electronic device 101 may identify whether ornot the electronic device 101 is in contact with a support surface byoutputting a signal and identifying a reflected and received signalusing an NFC module provided in each of the housings. As an example, theelectronic device 101 may identify a reflected and received signal usingan NFC module, and may compare the characteristics of a signal receivedwhen the electronic device 101 is in contact with the support surface(e.g., any of surfaces of various objects), for which thecharacteristics of the identified signal have been previously stored,with the characteristics of a signal received when the electronic device101 is gripped in the hand. As a result of the comparison, when thecharacteristics of the received signal correspond to the characteristicsof the signal received when the electronic device 101 is in contact witha support surface, the electronic device 101 may identify that thehousing thereof provided with an NFC module is in contact with a supportsurface.

According to various embodiments of the disclosure, when it isidentified in operation 2605 that one surface of the housing is incontact with the support surface, the electronic device 101 (e.g., atleast one processor 120) may display a second execution screenassociated with the predetermined range of the first application inoperation 2606. In other words, when the electronic device 101 is incontact with a support surface, it is determined that the user intendsto use the reconfigured execution screen based on the current state ofthe electronic device 101, and the electronic device 101 displays thereconfigured execution screen. Therefore, it is possible to improve theconvenience with which the user uses an application.

According to various embodiments of the disclosure, when it isidentified in operation 2605 that the electronic device 101 is not incontact with a support surface, the electronic device 101 (e.g., atleast one processor 120) may display an icon for changing an executionscreen in operation 2607. For example, as illustrated in 2702 of FIG. 27, the electronic device 101 may display an icon 2710 for causing thefirst application to change the execution screen. When the icon 2710 isselected, the first application may be caused to change the executionscreen to an execution screen (e.g., a screen shown in 2703)corresponding to a predetermined range within which the current anglefalls.

According to various embodiments of the disclosure, the electronicdevice 101 (e.g., at least one processor 120) may display the icon atvarious positions. For example, as illustrated in 2702 of FIG. 27 , theelectronic device 101 may display the icon 2710 on the first executionscreen of the currently displayed first application. In addition, forexample, the electronic device 101 may be implemented such that an iconis displayed in a menu (e.g., a drop menu) displayed when the icon iscalled, regardless of the first execution screen.

According to various embodiments of the disclosure, when an icon isselected in operation 2608, the electronic device 101 (e.g., at leastone processor 120) may display a second execution screen associated withthe predetermined range of the first application in operation 2606. Forexample, as illustrated in 2703 of FIG. 27 , the electronic device 101may display a second execution screen associated with a mode (e.g., ahalf-folded mode) corresponding to the predetermined range.

According to various embodiments of the disclosure, the electronicdevice 101 is not limited to the above description. In contrast, theelectronic device 101 may be implemented such that, when the electronicdevice 101 is in contact with a support surface, the electronic device101 displays an icon, and when the electronic device 101 is not incontact with a support surface (that is, when the electronic device 101is gripped in the hand), the electronic device 101 performs control suchthat the execution screen is automatically changed.

Hereinafter, still other operations of the electronic device 101according to various embodiments will be described.

According to various embodiments of the disclosure, the electronicdevice 101 may set angular ranges associated with modes to be differentfrom each other depending on whether or not a portion thereof (e.g., atleast one of the first housing structure 521 and the second housing 522)is in contact with a support surface.

FIG. 28 is a flowchart 2800 illustrating operations of the electronicdevice 101 according to an embodiment of the disclosure. According tovarious embodiments of the disclosure, the operations illustrated inFIG. 28 are not limited to the illustrated order, and may be performedin various orders. In addition, according to various embodiments of thedisclosure, a greater or smaller number of operations than theoperations illustrated in FIG. 28 may be performed. Hereinafter, theoperations of FIG. 28 will be described with reference to FIG. 29 .

FIG. 29 is a view illustrating operations of an electronic device 101according to an embodiment of the disclosure.

According to various embodiments of the disclosure, the electronicdevice 101 (e.g., at least one processor 120) may display a firstexecution screen of a first application in operation 2801. For example,the electronic device 101 may execute a first application, and maydisplay an execution screen including a plurality of elements of thefirst application. Since operation 2801 of the electronic device 101 maybe performed in the same manner as operations 801 and 1101 of theelectronic device 101 described above, a redundant description will beomitted.

According to various embodiments of the disclosure, the electronicdevice 101 (e.g., at least one processor 120) may identify whether ornot one surface of the first housing structure 521 or one surface of thesecond housing structure 522 is in contact with a support surface inoperation 2802. For example, when the electronic device 101 is placed ona table as illustrated in 2902 of FIG. 29 , the electronic device 101may identify that one surface of one of the housings of the electronicdevice 101 is in contact with a support surface. Since operation 2802 ofthe electronic device 101 may be performed in the same manner asoperation 2604 of the electronic device 101 described above, a redundantdescription will be omitted.

According to various embodiments of the disclosure, the electronicdevice 101 (e.g., at least one processor 120) may set different angularranges for respective modes depending on whether or not the electronicdevice 101 is in contact with a support surface. For example, when theelectronic device 101 is in contact with a support surface, theelectronic device 101 sets a first angular range to correspond to thefirst mode, and when the electronic device 101 is not in contact with asupport surface, the electronic device 101 may set a second angularrange to correspond to the first mode. The first angular range and thesecond angular range may be different from each other. For example, themaximum angle of the first angular range may be different from (e.g.,may be larger or smaller than) the maximum angle of the second angularrange, and the minimum angle of the first angular range may be differentfrom (e.g., may be larger or smaller than) the minimum of the secondangular range.

For example, when the electronic device 101 is in contact with a supportsurface, as illustrated in 2902 of FIG. 29 , the electronic device 101(e.g., at least one processor 120) may set the first angular range(e.g., 91° to 130°) to correspond to the half-folded mode, and when theelectronic device 101 is not in contact with a support surface, asillustrated in 2901 of FIG. 29 (e.g., when the electronic device 101 isgripped by the user's hand), the electronic device 101 (e.g., the atleast one processor 120) may set the second angular range (e.g., 91° to160°) to correspond to the half-folded mode. In other words, when theelectronic device 101 is not in contact with a support surface, theelectronic device 101 may cause an execution screen corresponding to thehalf-folded mode to be displayed at a relatively larger angle betweenthe first housing structure 521 and the second housing structure 522.The angular ranges set to be different from each other depending onwhether or not the electronic device 101 is in contact with a supportsurface may be set based on the user's ability to view a specific area(e.g., the first area) of the display of the electronic device 101, asillustrated in FIG. 29 . For example, when the electronic device 101 isnot in contact with the support surface and is gripped by the user, theangular range may be set such that an execution screen corresponding tothe half-folded mode is displayed in the state in which the anglebetween the first housing structure 521 corresponding to the first areaof the display that is viewed by the user and the second housingstructure 522 is larger, considering that the electronic device 101 isgripped in the hand at a predetermined angle.

Meanwhile, the first angular range and the second angular rangeassociated with the half-folded mode may be set without being limited tothe above-mentioned specific angular ranges.

According to various embodiments of the disclosure, when it isidentified in operation 2803 that the electronic device 101 is incontact with a support surface, the electronic device 101 (e.g., atleast one processor 120) may identify the angle between the firsthousing structure 521 and the second housing structure 522 in operation2804, and may identify whether or not the identified angle falls withinthe first range in operation 2805. For example, when it is identifiedthat the electronic device 101 is in contact with a support surface(e.g., the surface formed on a table), as illustrated in 2902 of FIG. 29, the electronic device 101 may identify that the angle between thefirst housing structure 521 and the second housing structure 522 is 130°and that the angle falls within the first angular range (e.g., 91° to130°), and may identify a designated mode (e.g., a half-folded mode)corresponding to the first angular range.

According to various embodiments of the disclosure, when it isidentified in operation 2803 that the electronic device 101 is not incontact with a support surface, the electronic device 101 (e.g., atleast one processor 120) may identify the angle between the firsthousing structure 521 and the second housing structure 522 in operation2807, and may identify whether or not the identified angle falls withinthe second range in operation 2808. For example, when it is identifiedthat the electronic device 101 is not in contact with a support surface(e.g., a table), as illustrated in 2901 of FIG. 29 , the electronicdevice 101 may identify that the angle between the first housingstructure 521 and the second housing structure 522 is 160° and that theangle falls within the second angular range (e.g., 91° to) 160°, and mayidentify a designated mode (e.g., a half-folded mode) corresponding tothe second angular range.

According to various embodiments of the disclosure, the electronicdevice 101 (e.g., at least one processor 120) may display a secondexecution screen of a first application associated with the designatedmode in operation 2806. Since operation 2806 of the electronic device101 may be performed in the same manner as operation 804 of theelectronic device 101 and operation 1106 of the electronic device 101described above, a redundant description will be omitted.

In addition, according to various embodiments of the disclosure, ratherthan being limited to the foregoing description, the electronic device101 may set different ranges for respective specific modes according tovarious states of the electronic device 101, in addition to whether ornot the electronic device 101 is in contact with a support surface.

Hereinafter, still other operations of the electronic device 101according to various embodiments will be described.

According to various embodiments of the disclosure, the electronicdevice 101 may execute a designated application based on the anglebetween the housings, and may display an execution screen of theexecuted designated application that corresponds to a predeterminedrange within which the angle between the housings falls.

FIG. 30 is a flowchart 3000 operations of the electronic device 101according to an embodiment of the disclosure.

Referring to FIG. 30 , the operations are not limited to the illustratedorder, and may be performed in various orders. In addition, according tovarious embodiments of the disclosure, a greater or smaller number ofoperations than the operations illustrated in FIG. 30 may be performed.Hereinafter, the operations of FIG. 30 will be described with referenceto FIGS. 31 and 32 .

FIG. 31 is a view illustrating operations according to a change of state(e.g., change of state of housings) of an electronic device 101 whendata is received by the electronic device 101 according to an embodimentof the disclosure. FIG. 32 is a view illustrating operations accordingto a change of state (e.g., a change of state of housings) of anelectronic device when data is received by the electronic deviceaccording to an embodiment of the disclosure.

According to various embodiments of the disclosure, the electronicdevice 101 may acquire at least one piece of data in operation 3001.

According to various embodiments of the disclosure, the electronicdevice 101 (e.g., at least one processor 120) may receive various datafrom an external device 102 or 104. For example, the electronic device101 may receive at least one piece of data from an external electronicdevice 102 or 104. As an example, as illustrated in 3101 and 3102 ofFIG. 31 and 3202 of FIG. 32 , the electronic device 101 may receive amessage 3110 or 3210 including at least one piece of data from anexternal electronic device while an execution screen of a specificapplication (e.g., a web screen 3111 or 3211) is being displayed.Alternatively, without being limited to the above description, theelectronic device 101 may receive at least one piece of data from anexternal electronic device while displaying a home screen.

According to various embodiments of the disclosure, the electronicdevice 101 (e.g., the at least one processor 120) may acquireinformation on a specific event occurring in the electronic device 101.For example, the electronic device 101 may acquire information on anapplication of a currently displayed execution screen.

According to various embodiments of the disclosure, the electronicdevice 101 may identify the angle between the first housing and thesecond housing in operation 3002, and may identify whether or not theangle falls within a predetermined range in operation 3003. Sinceoperations 3002 and 3003 of the electronic device 101 may be performedin the same manner as operations 802 and 803 described above, aredundant description will be omitted. The electronic device 101 mayperform operation 3004 when the current angle between the housings fallswithin a predetermined range.

According to various embodiments of the disclosure, the electronicdevice 101 (e.g., at least one processor 120) may identify whether ornot an application corresponding to at least one piece of data acquiredbased on the angle between the housings is executed. For example, whenthe angle between the housings falls within a predetermined range, theelectronic device 101 may initiate operation 3004.

According to various embodiments of the disclosure, the electronicdevice 101 (e.g., at least one processor 120) may execute an applicationcorresponding to the acquired at least one piece of data in operation3004.

According to various embodiments of the disclosure, the electronicdevice 101 (e.g., at least one processor 120) may identify anapplication corresponding to the message 3110 or 3210 received from anexternal electronic device 102 or 104, and may execute the identifiedapplication.

For example, as illustrated in 3101 of FIG. 31 or 3201 of FIG. 32 , inresponse to the currently received message 3110 or 3210, the electronicdevice 101 (e.g., at least one processor 120) may identify a virtualkeyboard application 3112 or 3212 or a message preparation application3113, and may execute the identified virtual keyboard application 3112or 3212 or message preparation application 3113. In addition, forexample, the electronic device 101 may identify the content included inthe currently received message, and may execute an applicationcorresponding to the content. For example, the electronic device 101 mayperform web crawling or application retrieval based on the contentincluded in the currently received message, and may execute theretrieved application.

According to various embodiments of the disclosure, the electronicdevice 101 may identify an application corresponding to informationrelated to a currently acquired event, and may execute the identifiedapplication.

For example, the electronic device 101 (e.g., at least one processor120) may identify information on an application of a currently displayedexecution screen, and may retrieve and execute an application associatedwith the identified application. The associated application may be anapplication having a degree of association with a currently runningapplication equal to or greater than a preset value. The degree ofassociation may be determined based on user data, for example, when twoapplications are used together or when another application is executedbefore or after execution of one application. In other words, theelectronic device 101 may identify an application that has beenfrequently used together with the currently running application, or anapplication that has been frequently executed before or after executionof a previously executed application, and may execute the identifiedapplication.

In addition, for example, the electronic device 101 (e.g., at least oneprocessor 120) may identify content included in the currently displayedexecution screen, and may retrieve an application corresponding to theidentified content. For example, the electronic device 101 may performweb crawling or application retrieval based on the content included inthe currently displayed execution screen, and may execute the retrievedapplication.

According to various embodiments of the disclosure, the electronicdevice 101 (e.g., at least one processor 120) may display an executionscreen associated with the predetermined range of the executedapplication in operation 3005.

For example, the electronic device 101 (e.g., at least one processor120) may perform control such that an execution screen of the executedapplication is displayed based on a mode corresponding to the rangewithin which the current angle falls (e.g., a half-folded mode). Adescription overlapping that of the operation of displaying an executionscreen of an application based on a mode corresponding to the rangewithin which the current angle of the electronic device 101 falls willbe omitted.

In addition, for example, when execution screens of two or moreapplications are displayed because another application is executed whilean application is running, the electronic device 101 (e.g., at least oneprocessor 120) may display the execution screens of two or moreapplications in respective areas of the display. For example, asillustrated in 3103 of FIG. 31 , the electronic device 101 may displayan execution screen of an executed message preparation application 3113in the first area, and may display an execution screen of a virtualkeyboard application 3112 in the second area. For example, asillustrated in 3202 of FIG. 32 , the electronic device 101 may display apopup screen 3213, which is produced in response to the reception of amessage and has a predetermined size, in the first area, and may displayan execution screen of a virtual keyboard application 3212 in the secondarea.

Hereinafter, still other operations of the electronic device accordingto various embodiments will be described.

According to various embodiments of the disclosure, when an anglebetween housings is within a predetermined range while displaying aplurality of execution screens, the electronic device may display theplurality of execution screens based on a mode corresponding to thepredetermined range.

FIG. 33 is a flowchart 3300 illustrating operations of an electronicdevice 101 according to an embodiment of the disclosure.

Referring to FIG. 33 , the operations are not limited to the illustratedorder, and may be performed in various orders. In addition, according tovarious embodiments of the disclosure, a greater or smaller number ofoperations than the operations illustrated in FIG. 33 may be performed.Hereinafter, the operations of FIG. 33 will be described with referenceto FIG. 34 .

FIG. 34 is a view illustrating an operation of changing an executionscreen when a plurality of execution screens are displayed in anelectronic device according to an embodiment of the disclosure.

Referring to FIG. 34 , the electronic device 101 (e.g., at least oneprocessor 120) may execute a first application and a second applicationin operation 3301. For example, as illustrated in 3401 of FIG. 34 , inthe state in which the angle between the housings is a predeterminedangle (e.g., 180°), the electronic device may execute the firstapplication and the second application, and may display an executionscreen 3411 of the first application (e.g., an execution screen of afirst video playback application) and an execution screen 3412 of thesecond application (e.g., an execution screen of a second video playbackapplication). In addition, for example, the electronic device maydisplay a plurality of execution screens in different states of the sameapplication (e.g., the first application). The plurality of executionscreens displayed together on one display may be displayed regardless ofan area of the display. For example, as illustrated in 3401 of FIG. 34 ,the execution screen 3411 of the first application may be displayed overthe entire area of the display, and the execution screen 3412 of thesecond application may be displayed on the execution screen 3411 of thefirst application to overlap the same.

According to various embodiments of the disclosure, the electronicdevice 101 (e.g., at least one processor 120) may identify the anglebetween the first housing and the second housing in operation 3302, andmay identify whether or not the identified angle falls within apredetermined range in operation 3303. Since operations 3302 and 3303 ofthe electronic device may be performed in the same manner as operations802 and 803 and operations 1102 and 1103 of the electronic device 101described above, a redundant description will be omitted.

According to various embodiments of the disclosure, the electronicdevice 101 (e.g., at least one processor 120) may display an executionscreen of the first application and an execution screen of the secondapplication based on the predetermined range in operation 3304.

For example, when the current mode is a half-folded mode, the electronicdevice may display execution screens in respective designated areas ofthe display. For example, as illustrated in 3402 of FIG. 34 , theelectronic device may display the execution screen 3411 of the firstapplication in a first area corresponding to the first housing of thedisplay, and may display the execution screen 3412 of the secondapplication in a second area corresponding to the second housing of thedisplay.

Hereinafter, still other operations of the electronic device 101according to various embodiments will be described.

According to various embodiments of the disclosure, the electronicdevice 101 may include two or more housings, and may change executionscreens of applications based on angles between the two or more includedhousings.

FIG. 35 is a flowchart 3500 illustrating operations of an electronicdevice 101 according to an embodiment of the disclosure.

Referring to FIG. 35 , the operations are not limited to the illustratedorder, and may be performed in various orders. In addition, according tovarious embodiments of the disclosure, a greater or smaller number ofoperations than the operations illustrated in FIG. 35 may be performed.Hereinafter, the operations of FIG. 35 will be described with referenceto FIGS. 36 and 37 .

FIG. 36 is a view illustrating operations of an electronic device 101including at least two housings according to an embodiment of thedisclosure. FIG. 37 is a view illustrating operations of an electronicdevice 101 including at least two housings according to an embodiment ofthe disclosure.

According to various embodiments of the disclosure, the electronicdevice 101 (e.g., at least one processor 120) may display a firstexecution screen of a first application in operation 3501. Sinceoperation 3501 of the electronic device 101 may be performed in the samemanner as operation 801 of the electronic device 101 and operation 1101of the electronic device 101 described above, a redundant descriptionwill be omitted.

According to various embodiments of the disclosure, the electronicdevice 101 (e.g., at least one processor 120) may identify anglesbetween a plurality of housings in operation 3502.

According to various embodiments of the disclosure, the angles betweenthe plurality of housings provided in the electronic device 101 may bechanged when the states of at least some of the hinges 3610 are changed(e.g., when the angles between the portions of the hinge shaftsconnected to the housings are changed), as illustrated in 3601 and 3602of FIG. 36 . For example, when the state of a first hinge among theplurality of hinges 3610 is changed, the angle between a first housinggroup provided on one side (e.g., left) and a second housing groupprovided on the other side (e.g., right) of the first hinge may bechanged. In addition, for example, when the state of each of a firsthinge and a second hinge among the plurality of hinges 3610 is changed,the angles between a first housing group provided on one side of thefirst hinge, a second housing group provided between the first hinge andthe second hinge, and a third housing group provided on the other sideof the second hinge may be changed.

According to various embodiments of the disclosure, when at least someof the plurality of housings included in the electronic device 101 arerotated, areas in the display may be changed.

For example, referring to 3701 of FIG. 37 , the sizes of areas on thedisplay may be changed when hinges, the states of which are changed(e.g., which are rotated), are changed, among the hinges providedbetween the plurality of housings. For example, when the state of afirst hinge among the plurality of hinges 3610 is changed, the areas onthe display may include a first area of the display that corresponds toa first housing group provided on one side of the first hinge and asecond area of the display that corresponds to a second housing groupprovided on the other side of the first hinge. For example, when thestate of a second hinge different from the first hinge among theplurality of hinges 3610 is changed, the areas on the display mayinclude a third area of the display, which corresponds to a thirdhousing group provided on one side of the second hinge, and a fourtharea of the display, which corresponds to a fourth housing groupprovided on the other side of the second hinge. In this case, the sizeof the first area and the size of the third area may be different fromeach other, and the size of the second area and the size of the fourtharea may be different from each other.

In addition, for example, referring to 3702 of FIG. 37 , the sizes ofareas on the display may vary when hinges, the states of which arechanged (e.g., which are rotated), are changed, among the hinges 3610provided between the plurality of housings. For example, depending onthe number of hinges, the states of which are changed, among theplurality of hinges 3610, the display may include display areas, thenumber of which is larger than the number of hinges by one. As anexample, when the state of a first hinge is changed among the pluralityof hinges 3610, the display of the electronic device 101 may include afirst area and a second area, and when the states of a first hinge and asecond hinge are changed, among the plurality of hinges 3610, thedisplay of the electronic device 101 may include first to third areas.

In addition, for example, the sizes and the number of areas into whichthe display is divided may vary when hinges, the states of which arechanged (e.g., which are rotated), are changed, among the hingesprovided between the plurality of housings. A redundant description ofthe operation of varying the size and number of areas of the displaywill be omitted.

According to various embodiments of the disclosure, the electronicdevice 101 (e.g., the at least one processor 120) may change anexecution screen of a first application based on the angles between theplurality of housings in operation 3503.

According to various embodiments of the disclosure, the electronicdevice 101 may cause a plurality of elements, which are included in acurrently displayed first execution screen, to be reconfigured anddisplayed on a plurality of divided areas of the display as the statesof at least some of the plurality of hinges 3610 are changed.

For example, the electronic device 101 (e.g., at least one processor120) may display an execution screen in which a plurality of elements isreconstructed on a plurality of areas based on the sizes of theplurality of areas of the display. As an example, the electronic device101 may display an element (e.g., a piece of content) having anattribute for providing a visual view among a plurality of elements inthe largest display area, and may display an element implemented toprovide a function in a relatively small display area.

In addition, for example, the electronic device 101 (e.g., at least oneprocessor 120) may display an execution screen in which elements forproviding a function among the plurality of elements are reconfigured tobe displayed in areas other than the areas corresponding to theplurality of hinges 3610.

In this case, the electronic device 101 (e.g., at least one processor120) may display an execution screen including elements reconfigured forrespective areas of the display as described above by displaying anexecution screen and/or a UI/UX provided by an application or bychanging visual attributes of the elements included in an executionscreen of the application (e.g., position shift). A description ofoperations overlapping the operation of displaying an execution screenand/or a UI/UX provided by an application and the operation of changingthe visual attributes of the elements included in the execution screenof the application will be omitted. In other words, the descriptionrelated to the operation of the electronic device 101 including twohousings is applicable mutatis mutandis to the description related tothe operation of an electronic device 101 including more than twohousings.

Various embodiments may provide an electronic device including: a firsthousing, a second housing foldably connected with the first housing, aflexible display disposed on the first housing and the second housing,at least one sensor, a memory, and at least one processor operativelyconnected to the flexible display, the at least one sensor, and thememory, wherein the at least one processor is configured, wheninstructions stored in the memory are executed, to control the flexibledisplay to display a first execution screen of a first application,based on an angle between the first housing and the second housing,which is identified using the at least one sensor, falling within apredetermined range, identify whether the first application supportschanging of an execution screen according to a change in angle, andbased on the first application supporting the changing of the executionscreen according to the change in the angle, control the flexibledisplay to display a second execution screen of the first applicationassociated with the predetermined range instead of the first executionscreen.

Various embodiments may provide an electronic device, wherein the firstexecution screen and the second execution screen correspond to one stateof the first application.

Various embodiments may provide an electronic device, wherein the atleast one processor is configured, when instructions stored in thememory are executed, to: execute a second application in a backgroundmode, and based on the second application supporting the changing of theexecution screen according to the change in the angle, perform controlsuch that an execution screen of the second application is changed to anexecution screen associated with the predetermined range based on theangle between the first housing and the second housing, which isidentified using the at least one sensor, falling within thepredetermined range.

Various embodiments may provide an electronic device, wherein the atleast one processor is configured, when instructions stored in thememory are executed, to: control the flexible display to display theexecution screen associated with the predetermined range of the secondapplication when the second application, which is running in thebackground mode, is executed in a foreground mode.

Various embodiments may provide an electronic device, wherein the memorystores a list of at least one designated application, and the at leastone designated application is configured to provide the execution screenassociated with the predetermined range.

Various embodiments may provide an electronic device, wherein the firstexecution screen of the first application is associated with ahorizontal mode or a vertical mode, and the second execution screen ofthe first application is associated with a mode associated with thepredetermined range.

Various embodiments may provide an electronic device, wherein the memorystores information associated with a plurality of ranges associated withthe angle including the predetermined range, and wherein the at leastone processor is configured, when instructions stored in the memory areexecuted, to control the flexible display to display the first executionscreen based on the angle falling within a first range different fromthe predetermined range among the plurality of ranges, and control theflexible display to display the second execution screen based on theangle falling within the predetermined range among the plurality ofranges.

Various embodiments may provide an electronic device, wherein the firstexecution screen of the first application includes a plurality ofelements, wherein the at least one processor is configured, wheninstructions stored in the memory are executed, to: control the flexibledisplay to display each of the plurality of elements in a first area ora second area based on an attribute of each of the plurality of elementswhen the angle between the first housing and the second housing fallswithin the predetermined range, and wherein the first area of theflexible display corresponds to the first housing, and the second areaof the flexible display corresponds to the second housing.

Various embodiments may provide an electronic device, wherein theplurality of elements include at least one first element having a firstattribute and at least one second element having a second attribute,wherein the first area is set to be associated with the first attribute,and the second area is set to be associated with the second attribute,and wherein the at least one processor is configured, when instructionsstored in the memory are executed, to: identify coordinate informationassociated with an area between the first area and the second area, andbased on the identified coordinate information, move the at least onefirst element having the first attribute to the first area and the atleast one second element having the second attribute to the second area.

Various embodiments may provide an electronic device, wherein the atleast one processor is configured, when instructions stored in thememory are executed, to: change at least one of a size, a brightness, aresolution, a contrast, or a shape of at least one of the at least onefirst element to be moved or the at least one second element to bemoved.

Various embodiments may provide an electronic device, wherein the atleast one processor is configured, when instructions stored in thememory are executed, to: based on the angle falling within thepredetermined range, identify whether a surface of the first housing ora surface of the second housing is in contact with the support surface,based on identifying that the surface of the first housing or thesurface of the second housing is not in contact with the supportsurface, control the flexible display to display an icon on the firstexecution screen, and control the flexible display to display the secondexecution screen when the icon is selected.

Various embodiments may provide an electronic device, wherein, based onidentifying that the surface of the first housing is in contact with thesupport surface and that the surface of the second housing is not incontact with the support surface, the second execution screen includesthe at least one element displayed in the first area and the at leastone second element displayed in the second area.

Various embodiments may provide an electronic device, wherein the atleast one processor is configured, when instructions stored in thememory are executed, to: identify whether a surface of the first housingor a surface of the second housing is in contact with a support surface,based on identifying that a surface of the first housing or a surface ofthe second housing is in contact with the support surface and the anglefalls within a first range, control the flexible display to display thesecond execution screen, and based on identifying that the surface ofthe first housing or the surface of the second housing is not in contactwith the support surface and when the angle falls within a second rangedifferent from the first range, control the flexible display to displaythe second execution screen.

Various embodiments may provide an electronic device further includingat least one communication circuit, wherein the at least one processoris configured, when instructions stored in the memory are executed, tocontrol the at least one communication circuit to receive at least onepiece of data, based on the angle falling within the predeterminedrange, execute a second application corresponding to the at least onepiece of data when the angle falls within the predetermined range, andcontrol the flexible display to display an execution screen of theexecuted second application corresponding to the predetermined range.

Various embodiments may provide an electronic device further including aplurality of housings, wherein the flexible display is disposed on theplurality of housings, and wherein the at least one processor isconfigured, when instructions stored in the memory are executed, toidentify an angle between each two adjacent ones of the plurality ofhousings using the at least one sensor, and display a third executionscreen of the first application associated with the angle between eachtwo adjacent ones of the plurality of housings.

Various embodiments may provide an electronic device, wherein the firstexecution screen includes a plurality of elements, and wherein the atleast one processor is configured, when instructions stored in thememory are executed, to identify coordinates of an area between each twoadjacent ones of the plurality of areas of the flexible displaycorresponding to the plurality of housings, and move the plurality ofelements such that the plurality of elements is displayed on theplurality of areas based on the identified coordinates.

Various embodiments may provide a method of operating an electronicdevice including a first housing, a second housing, and a flexibledisplay disposed on the first housing and the second housing, the methodincluding displaying a first execution screen of a first application onthe flexible display, based on an angle between the first housing andthe second housing, which is identified using at least one sensor of theelectronic device, falling within a predetermined range, identifyingwhether the first application supports changing of an execution screenaccording to a change in the angle, and based on the first applicationsupporting the changing of the execution screen according to the changein the angle, displaying a second execution screen of the firstapplication associated with the predetermined range instead of the firstexecution screen on the flexible display.

Various embodiment may provide a method of operating an electronicdevice, wherein the first execution screen and the second executionscreen correspond to one state of the first application.

Various embodiment may provide a method of operating an electronicdevice, further including executing a second application in a backgroundmode, wherein, based on the angle between the first housing and thesecond housing, which is identified using the at least one sensor,falling within the predetermined range, performing control such that anexecution screen of the second application is changed to an executionscreen associated with the predetermined range.

Various embodiments may provide a method of operating an electronicdevice including displaying the execution screen associated with thepredetermined range of the second application when the secondapplication, which is running in the background mode, is executed in aforeground mode.

Various embodiments may provide the electronic device including: a firsthousing, a second housing foldably connected with the first housing, aflexible display disposed on the first housing and the second housing,at least one sensor, a memory, and at least one processor operativelyconnected to the flexible display, the at least one sensor, and thememory, wherein the at least one processor is configured, wheninstructions stored in the memory are executed, to control the flexibledisplay to display a first execution screen of a first application,based on an angle between the first housing and the second housing,which is identified using the at least one sensor, falling within apredetermined range, identify a plurality of graphic elements includedin the first application, and control the flexible display to display,among the plurality of graphic elements, a first graphic element havinga first attribute in a first area and a second graphic element having asecond attribute in a second area, wherein the first area corresponds tothe first housing, and the second area corresponds to the secondhousing.

While the disclosure has been shown and described with reference tovarious embodiments thereof, it will be understood by those skilled inthe art that various changes in form and details may be made thereinwithout departing from the spirit and scope of the disclosure as definedby the appended claims and their equivalents.

What is claimed is:
 1. An electronic device comprising: a first housing;a second housing foldably connected with the first housing; a flexibledisplay disposed on the first housing and the second housing; at leastone sensor; a memory; and at least one processor operatively connectedto the flexible display, the at least one sensor, and the memory,wherein the at least one processor is configured, when instructionsstored in the memory are executed, to: control the flexible display todisplay a first execution screen of a first application when the firsthousing and the second housing are in an unfolded state, wherein thefirst execution screen includes a preview screen captured by a camera, aplurality of first UI elements above the preview screen and a pluralityof second UI elements below the preview screen, wherein the firstapplication is configured to change an execution screen based on anangle between the first housing and the second housing, which isidentified using the at least one sensor, falling within a predeterminedrange of a partially folded state, and based on the first applicationbeing configured to change the execution screen according to a change inthe angle, control the flexible display to display a second executionscreen of the first application associated with the predetermined rangeinstead of the first execution screen, and wherein the second executionscreen is configured to display the preview screen on a first portion ofthe flexible display corresponding to the first housing and to display,below the preview screen, the plurality of first UI elements and theplurality of second UI elements on a second portion of the flexibledisplay corresponding to the second housing.
 2. The electronic device ofclaim 1, wherein the first execution screen corresponds to a verticalmode of the electronic device.
 3. The electronic device of claim 1,wherein the second execution screen corresponds to a half-folded mode ofthe electronic device.
 4. The electronic device of claim 1, wherein thememory stores a list of at least one designated application, and the atleast one designated application is configured to provide an executionscreen associated with the predetermined range.
 5. The electronic deviceof claim 1, wherein the first UI elements and the second UI elements areclassified as elements for providing specific functions while thepreview screen is classified as an element for providing a visual view.6. The electronic device of claim 5, wherein an element for providing aspecific function comprises a button, preferably a toggle button or aradio button, or an object including one or more of a tool bar, a dial,a slider, an input field, a drop-down menu, and a progress bar.
 7. Theelectronic device of claim 1, wherein the flexible display comprises afirst area corresponding to the first housing and a second areacorresponding to the second housing.
 8. The electronic device of claim7, wherein the first UI elements of the first execution screen isdisplayed in the first area, displaying the preview screen of the firstexecution screen is displayed on the first and second areas, anddisplaying the second UI elements of the first execution screen isdisplayed in the second area.
 9. The electronic device of claim 8,wherein the first and second UI elements provide functions that remainthe same between the first execution screen and the second executionscreen.
 10. The electronic device of claim 9, wherein the at least oneprocessor is further configured, when instructions stored in the memoryare executed, to: gradually shift positions of the first UI elements,the second UI elements, and the preview screen between the firstexecution screen and the second execution screen.
 11. A method ofoperating an electronic device comprising a first housing, a secondhousing, and a flexible display disposed on the first housing and thesecond housing, the method comprising: displaying a first executionscreen of a first application on the flexible display when the firsthousing and the second housing are in an unfolded state, wherein thefirst execution screen includes a preview screen captured by a camera, aplurality of first UI elements above the preview screen and a pluralityof second UI elements below the preview screen, wherein the firstapplication is configured to change an execution screen based on anangle between the first housing and the second housing, which isidentified using at least one sensor of the electronic device, fallingwithin a predetermined range of a partially folded state, and based onthe first application being configured to change the execution screenaccording to a change in the angle, displaying a second execution screenof the first application associated with the predetermined range insteadof the first execution screen on the flexible display, and wherein thesecond execution screen is configured to display the preview screen on afirst portion of the flexible display corresponding to the first housingand to display, below the preview screen, the plurality of first UIelements and the plurality of second UI elements on a second portion ofthe flexible display corresponding to the second housing.
 12. The methodof claim 11, wherein the first execution screen corresponds to avertical mode of the electronic device.
 13. The method of claim 11,wherein the second execution screen corresponds to a half-folded mode ofthe electronic device.
 14. The method of claim 11, wherein a list of atleast one designated application is stored in a memory of the electronicdevice, and the at least one designated application is configured toprovide an execution screen associated with the predetermined range. 15.The method of claim 11, wherein the first UI elements and the second UIelements are classified as elements for providing specific functionswhile the preview screen is classified as an element for providing avisual view.
 16. The method of claim 15, wherein an element forproviding a specific function comprises a button, preferably a togglebutton or a radio button, or an object including one or more of a toolbar, a dial, a slider, an input field, a drop-down menu, and a progressbar.
 17. The method of claim 11, wherein the flexible display comprisesa first area corresponding to the first housing and a second areacorresponding to the second housing.
 18. The method of claim 17, whereinthe first UI elements of the first execution screen is displayed in thefirst area, displaying the preview screen of the first execution screenis displayed on the first and second areas, and displaying the second UIelements of the first execution screen is displayed in the second area.19. The method of claim 18, wherein the first and second UI elementsprovide functions that remain the same between the first executionscreen and the second execution screen.
 20. The method of claim 18,further comprising: gradually shifting positions of the first UIelements, the second UI elements, and the preview screen between thefirst execution screen and the second execution screen.